Title
Recognizing the success of and ongoing need for the Community Ambassadors initiative, and requesting that the Mayor identify and include a minimum of $150,000 per year in the City Budget for the program starting with the 2017 budget and beyond.
Body
WHEREAS, in June 2013 the Mayor's Office and Saint Paul Police Department (SPPD) launched a powerful intervention initiative that literally ‘met the youth where they were at’ by placing youth workers in targeted downtown St. Paul locations in the evenings and on weekends to engage and connect with the youth on the streets; and
WHEREAS, in just the first three months, these experienced, culturally-specific Community Ambassadors connected and interacted with 236 young people - working to build relationships, collecting demographic information, and learning about the barriers that could lead them to problem behaviors - leading to an average 40% reduction in arrests in the targeted areas; and
WHEREAS, these impressive results lead to the creation of the St. Paul Youth Intervention Initiative (SPYII), a year-round, city-wide model blending street outreach and engagement services with skill-building programming and services delivered by partnering community organizations; and
WHEREAS, the lives of over 3,500 youth were touched by this promising initiative in its first 17 months of operation:
30 youth acquired new skills, confidence and positive community connections via summer employment (2015) provided through Right Track, a program of the City of Saint Paul;
Juvenile arrests decreased by 63% when the Ambassadors were working in targeted areas throughout the City of Saint Paul;
The Ambassadors played a key role working with youth at multiple events including St. Paul Police Safe Summer Nights, Rondo Days, and Cinco de Mayo;
The number of Ambassadors has grown from 18 to more than 30, with over 90% of the original Ambassadors still participating; and
WHEREAS, mindful of the continued need for SPYII services, and empowered by its accomplishments, the Steering Committee has taken important steps to ensure continued growth and success, including renaming the initiative "Community Ambassadors" to better reflect and reinforce its core services of street outreach and engagement; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the City Council is requesting the Mayor include and identify a minimum of $150,000 per year in the City Budget for the Community Ambassadors starting with the 2017 budget and beyond.