Greensboro youth town hall aims to connect teens with city leaders

Teens filled the Nussbaum Room at Central Library on Wednesday for Greensboro's Youth Town Hall at 219 N. Church St. The event was open to Greensboro residents ages 14 to 22 and focused on safety, violence prevention and direct conversation with city leaders.

Jeremiah Jett, the city’s youth engagement director and the facilitator of the session, stood at the center of that effort. At 19, Jett is Greensboro’s youngest city employee, a contracted City staffer in his second year with the Community Safety and Violence Intervention Program and a rising High Point University senior. In a June 10 city profile, Jett connects young people to City resources and opportunities and shows up in high schools, middle schools and colleges to intervene before violence begins.

The session was built around open discussion, exchange of ideas and solutions for violence prevention, engagement with city leaders and community members, and opportunities for youth to get involved and lead. The department's public-safety approach combines community-centered prevention initiatives, crisis intervention services to help de-escalate violence and long-term, intensive case management for residents whose mental health, substance use or homelessness has put them in frequent contact with law enforcement.

Youth Leadership Greensboro includes 30 dedicated high school students each school year, giving them a chance to explore local issues, meet community leaders and take part in service projects. Guilford County’s Juvenile Crime Prevention Council works with state and local partners to reduce and prevent juvenile crime, while the N.C. Department of Public Safety’s Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention allocates approximately $28 million annually to juvenile crime prevention councils statewide.