Medcalf: Resources to help young people in gangs — it’s not complicated

Although the vulnerability of young men in the Twin Cities and beyond who join gangs is not a new concept, the prevalence spelled out in a series of federal indictments was harrowing.

“While the Bloods have wreaked havoc throughout the Minneapolis metro area, they have done the most damage to the community within their would-be kingdom,” read sentencing documents by Kristian Weir, the assistant U.S. Attorney for Minnesota who prosecuted a case against the south Minneapolis gang, according to a Minnesota Star Tribune piece. “The impact of the Bloods gang within this community begins with their predation on its children.”

Weir noted that investing in alternatives for the young people who get caught up in a web of gang activity is more complicated than “let’s give more resources.”

But I’m not sure where else to start. That has to be the foundation of any plan to alter this grim reality for the young folks who’ve been pulled into this dangerous world. And those resources should include mental health support.

I don’t know anyone who joined a gang with a long-term plan. I only know the folks who could never shake the impact of that decision. Like the young people described in the indictments, they too were offered a sense of security, belonging and financial gain by older members of those same gangs.

But those who’ve lured those children into those violent entities were also once enticed themselves. This is cyclical behavior, one that will demand both tangible and emotional resources, despite the imperfections of those efforts.

Per an abstract of a 2018 article in the International Journal of Forensic Mental Health, gang activity — like any other challenge that affects our youth — should be studied as a mental health concern.

From there, the actual resources — after-school activities, mentorship programs, rec centers, social outlets and other offerings that provide food, shelter and security from the corruptive forces that can harm them — available to the most vulnerable youth must be examined, too.

It’s not helpful when officials say things like “it’s more complicated” than providing resources, because that phrasing fails to acknowledge the limitations those who offer the most vital resources to those youths tend to face. Funding is inconsistent. Staffing is difficult for the nonprofits that often provide these services. The costs of operation are rising. And the grants and other financing for their work are disappearing.

Do I think a good nonprofit or mentorship program alone can save all of the youth who might decide to join gangs? No. But I think they can save some of them. And that has to be the goal, right?

I grew up wondering and hoping that could be the case for some of the people I loved.

A few summers ago, one of my cousins who’d been involved in street life for decades was murdered in Milwaukee. He was in his 40s and, somehow, the shadow of his affiliation was something he couldn’t escape.

I come from an extended family full of folks with gang ties. As a kid, I attended funerals for kids who weren’t old enough to drive or vote after the vicious Milwaukee gang wars of the 1980s and 1990s stole their lives. There were multiple shootings in my family as rivals encountered one another at parties, neighborhood gatherings and sporting events.

I once picked up the local newspaper and saw a relative on the front page. He’d been caught up in a federal indictment related to the street life he’d lived. Another cousin once told me he never went to church without a gun because it was too risky. Church???

They were all so young then. And they were also scared. Their youth had been defined by a feeling that, at any moment, someone might try to hurt them. They had to be ready. Always.

That’s not a lifestyle I ever lived. But I also understood its dangers. As the Vice Lords and Gangster Disciples crept into our old neighborhood, my parents put a pause on simple walks to the park or the convenience store. I knew then our world was changing fast. We soon moved after a friend’s murder a few blocks from our house and the assault of a next-door neighbor. That is, however, not possible for many in those situations.

And that means the children — children who face more hurdles than their peers — in those circumstances may have to navigate the temptation to join others in gangs and the misguided support they present.

Instead of questioning their impact, let’s prop them up. Let’s fund them. Let’s support them. Let’s ask them for the solutions. Let’s give them what they need.