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Dear Neighbor,
This morning I announced Safer Today, Safer Tomorrow: a package of bills focused on youth crime prevention through vocational education, mentorship, and increased truancy tracking.
Residents are scared and public safety is my top priority. Solving DC’s crime crisis takes both accountability and prevention. I focused on crime response and fixing the broken foundations of our public safety system with my introduction of the Whole Government Response to Crime in October. I want us to also be proactive so we can stop playing catch up and avoid spending more money responding to crime on the back end when the harm has already been done.
Young people on track for good-paying careers, young people with strong mentors, and young people with earlier truancy interventions are less likely to engage in crime. Importantly, young people are telling us that they need the programs Safer Today, Safer Tomorrow would establish. I've spoken with hundreds of DC youth in recent weeks and what they shared was consistent across every conversation: they don’t have job opportunities, they need to make money, and they are asking for more guidance as they try to navigate the near impossible array of fear, trauma, poverty and adult responsibilities they face.
I'm grateful to the young people, champions for District youth, and community leaders from labor, education, and mentorship organizations who stood with me this morning in support of Safer Today, Safer Tomorrow. And I appreciate my Council colleagues who have signed on as co-introducers of these measures. The work continues from here!
Watch the full press conference here, or a shorter video overview of the bills, below.
Sincerely,
Robert
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