LYNN — The city and North Shore Community College have been awarded a grant from the state’s Senator Charles E. Shannon Jr. Community Safety Initiative Grant Program to help stem youth gang violence.
The grant is worth $370,819.
Of that amount, $36,270 will be allocated to North Shore Community College (NSCC) to serve as a research partner that will provide strategic, analytic and technical support.
The college assists with the grant requirements from the state, conducts research and analysis on local crime trends and provides training on the latest findings in the field and current issues in criminal justice.
They have been a part of this initiative since 2015 and have received $261,438 in funding.
“The information and research NSCC produces is used by the partners to develop strategies for dealing with gang issues,” said NSCC criminal justice professor and project coordinator Frank D’Agostino. “Some of our recommendations from the Community Gang Assessment reports, regarding increased employment readiness for Lynn youth and expanding after-school and evening activities, have been integrated into the providers’ efforts.”
Additionally, NSCC’s grant funds support a paid student intern position for a Lynn criminal justice student who is interested in working with youth in the community.
Interns will work with each Shannon organization and get first-hand experience as to what the youth workers do to make a difference in the lives of the population they serve.
“Keeping students occupied with positive extracurricular activities and employed in the summer are two proven ways of reducing gang involvement,” D’Agostino said. “Gang-related issues have been on the decline in the city in recent years and we believe the Shannon grant efforts are a part of that. The Shannon grant has done a great deal of good work in the community for many years.”
The Lynn Shannon grant will also enable the Lynn Police Department, NSCC, Lynn Family & Children’s Services, Catholic Charities, Lynn Youth Street Outreach Agency and Lynn Parks and Recreation to continue their eight-year anti-gang efforts.
In 2021, Shannon Community Safety Initiative (CSI) partners served more than 15,000 young people across the commonwealth, an increase of youth participation in funded programs compared to 2020.
“The Shannon grant program invests in community-based efforts to connect with at-risk youth and help put them on a pathway to future success,” said Gov. Charlie Baker in a statement. “The long-term positive impacts of the programs funded by Shannon grants demonstrate the importance of a collaborative approach to addressing youth violence and improving the safety of our communities.”
