Four hundred teenagers “mostly likely to be impacted by gun violence” this summer will be offered a constructive, lucrative, and potentially “life-changing” alternative, thanks to a $1.4 million program unveiled Wednesday.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot has vowed to confront Chicago’s cycle of gang violence by focusing “like a laser” on young people most at risk of becoming victims — or perpetrators.
On Wednesday, the day before the school year ends for students in Chicago Public Schools, the mayor held a news conference at Percy Julian High School to take a small step toward delivering on that promise.
Youth Advocate Programs and Children’s Home and Aid will join forces over a six-week period to provide 400 at-risk teens with “individualized mentoring” for four hours each day.
The intensive program known as “Summer for Change” will also offer “group-based, trauma-informed therapy” several times each week that will give participating high school students a chance to talk through the violence they have either witnessed or the bloodshed that has somehow touched their lives.
They will also take field trips, work on community service projects and participate in sports and other recreational activities.
Although the program is more of an opportunity than a job, participating students will receive a weekly stipend of $200 — $1,200 for the summer — as well as free lunch.
Schools CEO Janice Jackson said the program was offered to students at eight so-called “option schools” serving students who have been “either exposed or, in some cases perpetrators of violence.”
Option schools are alternatives for students who have not performed well in more traditional CPS high schools, Jackson said.
In just one day, 140 students jumped at the chance to join “what we believe to be not only life-changing, but possibly life-saving” alternatives, Jackson said.
“We really wanted to target our most at-risk students and give them an opportunity,” she said.
“It goes against, unfortunately, the conventional narrative about our kids. They want something. And when presented with this opportunity, we see them signing up almost immediately.”
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Jackson, retained for the long term by the new mayor, thanked Lightfoot for “the push and the nudge to push us to be creative do this great work.”
“As a result, hundreds of kids are going to be off the streets and doing something productive. … We’re really targeting a group of students that have not had the kind of attention and guidance that they need. That’s what makes this program more unique,” Jackson said.
“Not only did the students who we identified for this program come forward, but many families are bringing siblings and others and we’re not turning anybody away.”
Lightfoot said the $1.4 million program will be bankrolled by the city, CPS and private donations.
“There’s a hunger out there for our young people to be connected with positive, healthy experiences. I think we’re gonna exceed the 400 and we’ll work to make sure that we accommodate them,” Lightfoot said.
“We just want to give our young people opportunities to connect up with good, safe alternatives. We’re gonna put a little money in their pocket. We’re gonna show them parts of the city that they maybe haven’t seen. And really create a plan and nurture that seed of hope and optimism that is so critically important to make sure that our young people are safe.”
Four years ago, now former Mayor Rahm Emanuel used his second inaugural address to launch a citywide campaign to prevent what he called “another lost generation of our city’s youth.”
He talked about mentoring programs like One Summer Chicago, After School Matters and Becoming A Man, aimed at giving a sense of values, purpose and hope to young men “born into poverty” and broken homes who have been “on their own from early on.”
After that, Emanuel made summer jobs, mentoring and after-school programs a crusade. He bolstered all three programs at a time when the state and federal governments were retreating.
Jackson acknowledged the new program for “400 is just the beginning” of what it will take to confront the vexing issue of disconnected young people, many of whom are neither in school nor employed.
“If it’s any indication from the early engagement that I’ve had with Mayor Lightfoot, we’re going to do more,” the schools CEO said.
Noting that the University of Chicago crime lab will monitor and evaluate the results, Jackson added: “As we see what’s effective, we’ll make adaptations to the program and of course, over time, we want to see the program grow. I count that as a good problem if more students want employment opportunities.”
