Initiatives

The first year of data on this initiative's performance is available now. 

Youth auto theft has been on the rise in Hennepin County (and across the country) since a 2021 social media video went viral explaining how to quickly steal a Kia or Hyundai. While these thefts are common, police often have some idea of who committed the theft but can have difficulty establishing sufficient evidence to submit a criminal case. Additionally, few options exist to intervene with a youth who is simply a passenger in a stolen car. 

The focused collaboration to address youth auto theft has three parts: 

1. Youth-specific collaborative intervention meetings – The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and county law enforcement agencies hold regular collaborative meetings to identify youth in need of intervention and services in each law enforcement agency’s jurisdiction. Staff from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office Youth Prosecution, Child Protection, and Be@School (truancy) teams partner with law enforcement to learn about high-risk youth who they have strong reason to believe are engaging in auto theft-related behaviors.

2. Family contact – A social worker from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office conducts an initial family contact to begin the process of identifying issues and connecting the youth and their family to needed services. The initial contact includes a discussion with the responsible adult about the concerning behavior that has come to the attention of law enforcement, and an offer to connect them to voluntary existing supports and resources. 

3. Connect with resources – Following the first contact from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, families that accept services are connected to resources via Hennepin County’s existing Family Response and Stabilization Services, community restorative practices (through HCAO’s existing contracts), community resources and school-based resources (through HCAO’s Be@School program). 

The interventions and services are specifically designed to address underlying issues that are contributing to the youth engaging in concerning behavior. This early intervention effort is focused on offering voluntary services and is not about bringing more youth into the legal system. If those issues are not addressed, youth remain at risk of escalating behavior that could lead to legal system consequences in the future. The voluntary program is aimed at people under 18 who don’t have active court cases, aren’t on active probation, and either live in Hennepin County or have strong ties here.

There are numerous indicators the initiative is working. Since the program started in June 2023:

• 81% of youth (95 participants) who were found eligible* and offered voluntary services had no new cases as of May 22, 2024.
• The number of youth auto cases submitted to HCAO declined 48% from January to May 2023 (before this initiative went into effect) to the same period this year.
• Auto theft reports were down 30% across Hennepin County during the same time period.
• The vast majority of participants and their families are accepting voluntary services from a social worker. 

There’s a significant likelihood that young people who are charged with auto theft will end up with other cases, so interrupting this behavior is critical. The one-year recidivism rate for charged youth who don’t go through the program is 57.7%.

A key part of HCAO’s new approach to youth auto theft includes prioritizing quicker charging decisions when offenses do occur. It cuts the likelihood of offenses by ensuring earlier opportunities for intervention and accountability.  

The average number of days until a charging decision was made in youth auto theft cases declined 15% between July 1, 2023 – March 31, 2024, compared to the same period a year earlier. The number of cases in which a charging decision was made within three days increased by 45% over that same time period.

By intervening early and providing services to support young people and their families, this program seeks to prevent crime and create public safety and justice for everyone in our communities.

*The majority of young people screened out of the program had active court cases, active probation, or weren’t Hennepin County residents.

As part of ongoing efforts to address violence committed by youth, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced a new Youth Group Violence Intervention (YGVI) Expansion Pilot initiative has begun work in Hennepin County. Created in partnership with Hennepin County Safe Communities, YGVI is an evidence-based strategy that brings together law enforcement, social services, and community that has proven to be successful in preventing gun violence. The initiative’s goal is to intervene and provide support and resources for young people and families to help them take a path away from group-involved violence and prevent future violence. 

The first jurisdictions participating in this strategy of focused deterrence are Brooklyn Center and Brooklyn Park. 

The YGVI Expansion complements an initiative developed in 2022 by the City of Minneapolis and Hennepin County Juvenile Probation that focused on young people who were already on supervised probation. This expansion pilot meets a critical need for services at an earlier point by creating a pathway to intervention from law enforcement referrals of young people who are not already on probation. 

YGVI draws from GVI, an evidence-informed, internationally used model pioneered and supported by the National Network for Safe Communities at John Jay College. The GVI process involves direct intervention with the groups involved in violence through the following: 

• Participants hear a credible moral message against violence. 

• Law enforcement puts groups on notice about the procedurally just consequences of further violence for the group. 

• Support and outreach providers make a genuine offer of help for those who want help escaping from the cycle of violence. Support and outreach providers help protect them from risk, provide needed resources, address trauma, and create offramps away from the cycle of violence.

YGVI is rooted in the same approaches, but outreach and services are tailored to the developmental needs of young people and the process also includes families and support structures around the young people. The new Hennepin County YGVI process involves four steps: 

1. Law enforcement prepares the YGVI Custom Notification Referral Form for each young person they think may be appropriate for YGVI services.
2. Custom Notification Review Meeting – Every two weeks a multidisciplinary group including community outreach providers, violence prevention staff from participating jurisdictions, and other partners meet to review each referred young person, determine whether the young person meets eligibility criteria, and begin to design an intervention plan.
3. Custom Notification – A Custom Notification is the method of delivering the GVI message to young people and their support system. A small, non-law enforcement group, led by a trusted community provider, makes direct contact with a young person and their support system. 

The notification is used to communicate to the young person and their support system that the young person is a valued member of the community, to give information about the risks associated with continued involvement with violence, to offer credible and immediate opportunities for help, and to enroll interested young people in services. 

Provider Support and Outreach -- For young people who choose to engage in services following a Custom Notification, YGVI Support and Outreach providers – who are credible members of the community – will serve as an ongoing accessible community-based resource. They will act as a positive, trusted adult and will help participating young people address whatever may be needed to help them exit cycles of violence and stay safe, alive, and free. 

Homicides and gun violence are often concentrated in small groups. Often, group members are only about half of a percent of a city’s population but can be involved in as much as 70 percent of its homicide and gun violence.  

The homicide rate for those in that population may be about 100 times the national average. Those at the highest risk of perpetrating gun violence are often the same as those who face the highest risk of becoming a shooting victim.  

GVI is designed to reduce group-involved homicide and gun violence associated with those groups. By focusing both deterrence and resources and support for people wishing to exit involvement in cycles of violence toward members of these small groups, it is possible to have a significant impact on community violence and the lives of those in these groups.  

GVI is rooted in research and evidence. Evaluations of the Group Violence Intervention model have shown success. Peer-reviewed findings include:   

• 23% reduction in overall shooting behavior among groups targeted through GVI in Chicago. 

• 36% reduction in group-related shootings among groups targeted through GVI in Boston. 

• 32% reduction in victimization among groups targeted through GVI in Chicago. 

• 32% decrease in group-member involved homicides in New Orleans. 

• 41% reduction in group-member involved homicides in Cincinnati. 

More detail about the initiative and the process can be found in the project overview available from the National Network for Safe Communities.