City votes to fund youth crime prevention program

The City of St. Petersburg has announced that residents selected the Forward Together youth crime prevention program as the recipient of $1 million in funding through the Innovative Equity Project.

Mayor Ken Welch announced the Innovative Equity Project earlier this year, allowing residents to choose one of five programs to fund. The Innovative Equity Project was designed to foster community empowerment and participation in resource allocation. After tallying 1,211 votes, Forward Together emerged as the winner.

Forward Together is designed to address the foundational causes of youth involvement in crime. With a primary focus on kids aged 12-17, the program emphasizes intervention using mental health and human services programs. Funding will support the deployment of social workers to work closely with families to provide holistic support and guidance.

Research shows even high-risk youth can avoid involvement in delinquency if they experience protective factors like robust education and employment opportunities, social outlets, mentors and adult role models.

The $1 million program will also go towards updating Community Resource Centers, providing overtime to police officers who partner with social workers and expanding tutoring services through the Police Athletic League of St. Petersburg (PAL). 

Heather Robb, Executive Director of PAL, said the nonprofit has been piloting a tutoring program using funding from a Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) microgrant. The new funding through the Forward Together program will allow PAL to continue offering tutoring services in the community.

“One of our biggest our focuses is on academics and ensuring that children are on track so they learn to read by the end of the third grade,” said Robb. “A child’s life trajectory is determined by the end of their third-grade year, so if they’re not on track to read, then their chances of dropping out of high school, becoming pregnant or incarcerated increase significantly.”

Robb said PAL’s tutoring services cost the nonprofit about $3,500 per child per year, which is why receiving funding from programs like Forward Together is necessary to keep children engaged through early intervention measures. She added that summer and after-school programs and tutoring services also “provide kids with a safe, structured place to be, so they’re not at home looking for ways to entertain themselves.”

For the employment piece, the Forward Together program will enhance the city’s existing Cadet Program by offering part-time job opportunities at the police department for young adults aged 18-21. The goal is to foster leadership and community engagement among young individuals.

“The Innovative Equity Project exemplifies my administration’s commitment to a collaborative and informed approach to decision-making,” Welch said in a prepared statement. “As one of our first initiatives out of our Office of Equity, we invited our residents to engage in the budget process, allowing them to have a direct impact on a City decision. Forward Together, A Youth Crime Prevention Program will be transformative, providing our youth with the support and opportunities they need to thrive.”

The Forward Together program will be included in the Mayor’s Recommended Budget for fiscal year 2025, which the City Council will vote on in September. The City is working on implementing the program now, and plans to post updates online at stpete.org/ForwardTogether.