Mayor Freddie O'Connell issues executive order creating Nashville's First Office of Youth Safety

Today, Mayor Freddie O'Connell issued Executive Order 53, creating Nashville's first Office of Youth Safety. The Office will be charged with taking a proactive, evidence-based, people-informed approach to youth safety and well-being.

"Our youth are increasingly susceptible to violent interactions, and I join many people in the community who want to change that," said Mayor Freddie O'Connell. "Any approach to youth safety must be comprehensive and collaborative. Aligning our goals and our collective work in the area of youth safety, provides us the greatest opportunity to prevent violence and criminal justice interactions for youth and improve their educational outcomes and overall well-being."

A new Director of Youth Safety in the Mayor's Office will oversee the work of the new office. A critical component of the Director's work will be uniting the efforts underway in the space of youth safety and programming. A job posting for the position is expected in early December.
The Office of Youth Safety will complement the work ongoing in the city to support young Nashvillians. The executive order lays out the following responsibilities for the Office and its Director:

• Pilot, assess, and promote programming to prevent conflicts from escalating into gun violence and equip youth with conflict resolution skills, with a focus separate from the criminal justice system.
• Use data and research to inform Metro's investments in youth violence prevention and restorative programming, and to focus on youth most at risk of violence.
• Gather and assess how Metro departments can continue to build safer communities for youth in ways that reduce the harmful interactions with the criminal justice system.
• Support the development of evidence-based, community-informed anti-violence initiatives within Metro departments as part of a comprehensive effort to promote youth safety and well-being while minimizing the harms that come from interaction with the criminal justice system.
• Develop relationships with leaders of existing restorative justice initiatives within Metro departments, Metro Nashville Public Schools, and independent agencies and incubate a restorative justice program as needed.

Through focus groups and conversations with Metro this year, many Nashville youth advocated for the creation of an Office of Youth Safety and have remained engaged as the framework for the office was created. The Office of Youth Safety is funded from the fiscal year 2025 operating budget.

"Our Nashville youth are vital to making our city thrive and the creation of an Office of Youth Safety is an important step toward empowering our youth with the tools they need to navigate conflicts constructively, so we can break the cycle of violence and create a more harmonious community," said Metro Council Budget and Finance Chair Delishia Porterfield. "The impetus for this office was the youth of Nashville. They strongly advocated for it during our budget hearings and I was pleased to secure the funding and participate in the work to make it a reality."

Utilizing the principles of co-governance, the Mayor's Office partnered with and recognizes the contributions of Metro Council Budget and Finance Chair Delishia Porterfield, Juvenile Court Clerk Lonnell Matthews, Southern Movement Committee representatives, community partners, and Nashville youth in developing the Office of Youth Safety framework.

"We're really grateful to see the work of our youth assembly members honored. This is an opportunity to shift the culture in our neighborhoods and schools. The way to do it is through conflict resolution and community-driven solutions," said Erica Perry, Esq. executive director of the Southern Movement Committee. "We know that conflict happens. What should not happen is someone loses their life because of a conflict."

"Nashville is fortunate to have a series of great partners that are instrumental in this work and this office has a great potential to unite our community and government efforts around a shared goal of supporting our youth," Juvenile Court Clerk Lonnell Matthews added.

My Brother's Keeper, the Mayor's Youth Council, the Mayor's Office of Children and Youth Initiatives, the Nashville After Zone Alliance, and many others offer outlets for youth to find and engage with their passion, and a unifying Office of Youth Safety aligns those efforts to achieve maximum impact.

During his first year in office, Mayor O'Connell's administration has partnered with community organizations and Metro agencies to support youth and children in Nashville. The Mayor's Office of Children and Youth Initiatives has directly worked to:

• Worked with Metro Nashville Public Schools and Metro Parks to create an additional 250 aftercare slots by adjusting the number of seats available on current bus routes
• Continuous support of Nashville After Zone Alliance including highlighting their efforts during the annual National Lights on Afterschool Day and the creation of a universal job board for all Out of School time providers
• Supported the implementation of School Cafeteria Composting Pilot program at 11 schools, diverting 10 tons of waste from landfills in the first 6 weeks
• Became the government sponsor for Nashville's My Brother's Keeper initiative
• Hosted a Youth Conversation on Youth Violence that included Mayor's Youth Council, Black Lemonade, Napier Kitchen Table and Southern Word
• Conducted focus groups of justice impacted youth
• Planned and facilitated enrichment opportunities for students at Juvenile Detention Center during the breaks.
• Partnered with Power Youth, Tennessee State University, Fisk University, My Brother's Keeper, and other community partners to engage youth in a variety of opportunities throughout the year.

The full Executive Order 53 creating the Office of Youth Safety is attached and will be available on Nashville.gov Monday.

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