Western Massachusetts communities are taking an action to keep the youth out from falling into gang activities and substance abuse. They are urging the state to invest $10 million in the Shannon Grants, which provide the youth in urban communities with education and employment services.
Nearly 30% of young people in the Holyoke are at risk of dropping out of school or participating in the criminal activity. Holyoke resident Christian Lopez told to 22News that the programs helped to get his life on track after spending much of his youth in incarceration.
Some of the taxpayers are concerned about their money going to youth in and out of the prison system, but the State Representative Aaron Vega said that you will receive a return on investment.
These programs work and are saving us money in the long run and also have already saved us money. We have already seen decreases in violent crimes. We have seen decreases in dropouts. This is the kind of program which works, he said.
For every dollar spent on the youth initiatives, Springfield regained nearly seven in benefits from preventing the violent crimes.
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Tyvon Williams, from Roca Inc. in Springfield, said that “Sometimes I’ll be like, “You know, when I’m done with Roca I want to be a painter, but then there will be sometimes where I say ‘I want to join the construction union.’ Just from me joining the program and me being a part of the program, it showed me that there’s a lot of different ways to make it.”
The state granted over $6-million in the year 2016 to 26 Massachusetts communities, including the Springfield, which are most at risk of the gang activity.
Mrudula Duddempudi.
