A pledge from Mayor John Tory to fund $6 million in youth violence prevention and intervention programs this year could make a world of difference in communities across the city, youth workers, academics and advocates say.

“It’s a breath of fresh air,” youth worker Abdulkadir Nur said of the mayor’s announcement Monday. “It’s good to see the city invest in communities again.”

The new money should have a dramatic impact for kids who need positive alternatives to violent crime, he said, adding that stable funding has helped him work with the teens at the Jane Finch Community and Family Centre.

“I see a lot of youths who don’t know about the opportunities around them, they fall into a pit of despair — crime — and we can give them hope.”

While $6 million is a small increase to the city’s $13.53-billion operating budget, which has yet to be approved for 2020, those funds can make a huge difference in individual communities that are struggling with youth violence, community workers like Nur say.

Tory’s announcement, made at a North York community centre on Monday amid ongoing criticism over the lack of city spending on community-based programs, represents a significant shift in how the city plans to spend its own money to solve the problem of rising gun violence — although even more funding is needed, those involved say.

Half the money will be spent on 14 additional youth hubs this year, Tory said. That and funds already in the 2020 budget would see 20 new spaces within existing libraries and community centres funded this year — doubling the number of safe, dedicated, city-run sites where young people can get homework help, a snack, mentorship or just hang out.

Another $2.1 million will go to grants of up to $200,000 per year for three years for 10 to 15 community organizations already working to prevent youth violence.

The new money will help “stop gun violence in these neighbourhoods and help young people to get involved in ... results-driven projects that we know are already making a difference,” Tory told reporters at Falstaff Community Centre, near Jane Street and Highway 401.

“If you can get one young person in here whose life you turn around and keep them away from gangs, violence and drugs, then that is a victory for us.”

Tory said he expects criticism from “the worst of the armchair commentators” who “rant and rave” about social spending, but said he has no doubt the money will make Toronto safer.

He also stressed he is pushing for investments in police, and for the federal government to make it harder for people accused of gun crimes to get bail. The mayor said he’ll continue to make those points during a trip to Ottawa this week.

The city’s existing youth hubs have proven to be wildly popular with youth. As part of their 2020 budget submissions, the Toronto Public Library reported that library program attendance had increased 32.6 per cent in the past decade, largely due to the new hubs.

The first word out of Bill Sinclair’s mouth when he heard Tory’s announcement was: “Wow.”

Sinclair, who runs St. Stephen’s Community House, said stable grant money can be the difference between hiring staff part-time or full-time, or between a program being seasonal or year-round.

“It might actually encourage talented youth leaders to devote some time to this kind of work,” he said. “Three years funding is very important so that people who have knowledge and skill and caring in the community can commit to work on this issue for three years and build those trusting relationships that are essential.”

After Coun. Josh Matlow proposed a plan to double the number of city-run youth hubs — which are modelled on St. Stephen’s successful after-school programs — during the 2018 election, city staff drew up a plan of how that could be possible. The plan was presented to council during the 2019 budget process but Tory rejected the idea, calling it a “tough budget year,” and it failed to find funding without his support.

Falstaff Community Centre, where Tory made his announcement Monday, was one proposed location for a new youth hub.

That community centre is near where 16-year-old Hanad Abdullahi was gunned down last summer.

“This was not the first shooting that happened at Falstaff, and this probably won’t be the last,” a family friend told the Star at the time.

On Monday, Matlow called Tory’s pledge a “significant investment” in the lives of Toronto children.

“Youth spaces are proven to provide opportunities to our most vulnerable youth. They can make communities safer and they change lives,” he said. “There is no better way to decrease youth violence than providing options for our youth.”

If approved by council, the funds would more than double the new spending already proposed for youth violence prevention in the 2020 budget, according to numbers city staff provided in a budget briefing note to council members.

Tory’s announcement followed the shooting deaths of three young men in the downtown Fort York neighbourhood over the weekend. All of them were aged 21 and under. Two other men were injured.

In a statement Saturday, Tory called the incident “completely unacceptable” and promised action this week.

The shooting was just the latest in the escalating number of injuries and deaths that has taken a major toll on the city’s youth.

During a violent summer in 2018, council approved a more than $50-million plan to tackle gun violence. But the city has so far failed to fund most of the community-based initiatives, a gap of $26.2 million. The entire plan relied on funding from the provincial and federal governments, requests which were largely rejected.

Although Tory says he has continued to keep up the pressure on those governments, the money has not materialized and council has not covered the gap.

Since the anti-gun violence plan was approved but not properly funded, 53 people aged 13 to 29 — the target of the city’s programs to address violence — have been killed in Toronto, not including homicides believed to be domestic. On average, that’s about one death every 11 days.

Last year saw more people killed or injured by shootings than any other year in police data dating back 15 years, including the so-called “Year of the Gun” in 2005.

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At the same time, funding requests for the Toronto police budget, like the one for $4.5 million to run a 13-week intelligence project, have been granted by all three levels of government. The police budget has ballooned over $1 billion with nearly $8.5 million for new officers in the 2020 budget.

City staff and others have been trying to get council and other levels of government to fund proven community-based solutions that researchers and community workers say are the best hope of tackling the city’s gun violence problem in the long-term, calling increased enforcement a “Band-Aid” solution.

Studies of the roots of youth violence, notably collected and analyzed in a 2008 report to the Ontario government, have highlighted the need to address systemic problems of racism, poverty and other issues that have led to a dearth of equitable opportunities for young people in some parts of the city — a lack of education, recreational options, safe spaces and job opportunities.

Irvin Waller, the author of “Science and Secrets of Ending Violent Crime” and a professor emeritus at the University of Ottawa, said that Monday’s announcement is “long overdue” good news. But, he said, it is a “very small step in the right direction,” particularly compared to money spent reacting to violence, particularly on policing.

Two of the announced initiatives may lead to short-term reductions in violence, Waller said, pointing to a Sunnybrook Hospital pilot called Breaking the Cycle of Violence with Empathy.

“We know that intervening at critical moments in these high-violence, young men’s lives can make a turn-around,” Waller said.

He also highlighted the money for community grants, saying that if the money is going to agencies where street workers are able to do outreach to “high-risk” individuals, “then it will be good news.”

“I just wish that it was much bigger amounts of money,” he said.

Longer-term, Waller said, Toronto needs a “more serious” strategic plan that has a stated vision for crime reduction, such as a 50 per cent reduction in gun-related homicides.

“Just throwing out some encouraging ideas is not enough for me,” he said. “There needs to be a serious plan about how to make a serious reduction.”

On Monday, Tory pledged that the $6 million, if approved, would be spent this year and said programs would not have to wait for the money to be phased in.

Tory’s office said the mayor’s budget chief Coun. Gary Crawford will propose using money from the overachieving municipal land transfer tax to fund the new investments while still putting additional funds from those tax revenues into a rainy day reserve fund, as per council policy.

That motion will be made Tuesday at budget committee. Council will approve a final budget on Feb. 19.

With the mayor championing it, the proposal is likely to pass easily at council.

Here is how Tory proposes to distribute $6 million:

$2.1 million for community youth violence prevention grants, up to $200,000 per year, per established organization for three years. The funding would be spread across 10 to 15 organizations serving young people aged 10-29.

$1.8 million for eight new youth hubs located in Toronto Public Library branches providing safe, dedicated spaces for youth people to get homework help, have a snack, participate in programs and hang out.

$1.2 million for six new youth hubs in community centres, which operate in a similar way.

$635,000 to fund the Regent Park social development plan proposed by city staff but not yet included in the 2020 budget. The plan developed with the community is focused on increasing safety and spurring economic and other opportunities.

$100,000 for a Sunnybrook Hospital pilot called Breaking the Cycle of Violence with Empathy, which is meant to connect patients involved in community violence with interventions and other support services.

$100,000 to expand the city’s crisis response grants to help communities rebuild after violence.

With files from Wendy Gillis and Gilbert Ngabo

David Rider is the Star’s City Hall bureau chief and a reporter covering city hall and municipal politics. Follow him on Twitter: @dmrider

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