24:38 → 25:01(23s)
The Committee on Culture, Youth, Aging, Sports and Parks held a territorial hearing on Oct. 31, 2025 to examine youth violence, behavioral health, and long‑term youth opportunity (education, career and technical education, internships and sports/recreation). Invited testimony spanned public‑health framing of youth violence (Department of Health), community violence interruption and prevention (Office of Gun Violence Prevention), police diversion and school resource efforts (VIPD), legal-system capacity and juvenile recidivism (Department of Justice), and nonprofit program experiences (Village Partners in Recovery, My Brother's Workshop, Saint Croix Foundation). The second block reviewed workforce and training pathways: Bureau of Economic Research data, the Department of Education’s CTE work, the CTE Board, Department of Labor youth/apprenticeship programs, and Sports, Parks & Recreation. Committee members pressed agencies on service gaps (behavioral‑health workforce shortages, data sharing, funding/sustainability for nonprofits and pilot programs, school‑to‑career pipelines, and facility/staffing limits for recreation). Several agencies committed to follow‑up data or proposals.
