City announces Youth Violence Prevention Week with workshops, school outreach and parent programming

City officials on April 1 outlined a week of programs planned for Youth Violence Prevention Week, April 20–26, that will include conflict-resolution and anti-bullying training in partnership with Richland School District One, artistic-expression events, social-emotional learning workshops and parent-oriented activities.

Dr. (first name not specified in the transcript), director of the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, introduced team members who will lead or support the initiative: Kimberly Gote (program coordinator), Keisha Washington (community engagement/outreach) and Amy Free (research analyst). The staff described several ongoing and upcoming efforts, including a Choose Peace, Create Change youth initiative funded by a Bureau of Justice Assistance grant and a South Carolina opioid recovery fund (SCORF) project with community partners; the first four-month report on SCORF work was described as forthcoming to council.

Planned activities during April 20–26 include in-school conflict-resolution and anti-bullying sessions, workshops for youth on peer pressure and conflict resolution, artistic-expression events in collaboration with Parks & Recreation at Hyatt Park, and family-oriented sessions on social-emotional learning. Staff said courses will continue through the summer and that registration details would be released for select events.

Staff asked council members to help publicize the events; the mayor and council recognized the program team at the meeting.