Senator Serrano joined Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito, community groups, and local youth today for the release of a platform to address youth violence. Mark-Viverito founded the El Barrio/East Harlem Youth Violence Task Force last year to address the growth of youth violence in the East Harlem community. The purpose of the Task Force is to gain greater collaborative efforts between government, law enforcement, non-profits, parents, schools, and the community as a whole to ensure that our youth is engaging in positive outlets.

“It is important to not only understand that we must tackle youth violence, but to also have a platform for how we can specifically address this issue,” said Senator Serrano. “Too many lives have been destroyed with senseless violence.  It is only by confronting this issue and engaging in meaningful discussion that we can take the appropriate steps to getting our youth on the right track.”

The platform consists of seven recommendations of key areas that should be addressed to effectively treat this issue. For the full report, please visit http://stopyouthviolence.wordpress.com/platform/