Mayor Catherine Pugh held a press conference Wednesday afternoon to announce an anti-violence program in partnership with ROCA.
“It’s not just about our violence reduction plan it’s about how we are inclusive in our approach to dealing with the violence that exists in our city,” said Mayor Pugh
ROCA is a nationally-recognized, Massachusetts-based group focused on reducing violence by helping very high-risk young adults stay alive, avoid prison, and go to work.
The plan is to teach emotional regulations skills to around 75 people area, ranging from ages 17-24-years-old who people have given up on.
“We drag young people out of bed. They can come for a day or for a week. They can get mad at us threaten us, get high, disappear and we go back and get them again,” said Molly Baldwin, Founder of ROCA.
It's a four-year plan that will cost $17 million, most of that money coming from business owners and the city.
