YOUNGSTOWN — The city’s Community Initiative to Reduce Violence and Mahoning County Juvenile Court Judge Theresa Dellick partnered Wednesday to hold a juvenile “call-in” at the juvenile court to encourage juveniles to address issues that can lead to incarceration

Factors addressed at the call-in included gang-related issues and the increased number of gun-violence cases in the city this year. Juvenile participants were addressed by city and federal law enforcement, judicial personnel, clergy and community-resource advocates.

CIRV Executive Director Guy Burney said one component of a call-in is to “give them pathways, to say, Listen, the path you are on is not productive and we are here as a community to give you some alternatives to that. That may be your environment, or the place you come from has certain things you do. But here’s another way that is going to give you better outcomes in your life.”

He said people were going to speak at the call-in who provide employment, education, “even if they have been in trouble before, hope for their family. Sometimes it’s housing, where I live, how much I have to move. All of those things are offered,” Burney said.

He said there were going to be people there with whom the juvenile could build a positive relationship with, including Mayor Derrick McDowell and people from the organization United Returning Citizens, “who are mentors, who have lived experiences. We call them credible messengers, people who understand where you came from that we will connect them to,” Burney said.

Also there was the organization Flying High, which provides opportunities for training for young people to help them make the transition to adulthood and jobs. “It’s a pathway that is the opposite of where you may be going now,” Burney said.

The age of the participant is not as important for a call-in as the “behaviors that may involve violence. We know if we don’t stop that, that is the next thing we will read about.” He said prevention is equally important for juveniles younger than 16 or 17, so that “when you are 16 or 17, we can have you on a different path, and your life will turn out differently.”

Holding call-ins for juveniles is not new, Burney said. They have been going on for many years, though juvenile call-ins are not held as much as adult call-ins because the prevalence of dangerous behaviors is higher among adults. There were going to be about 15 kids in Wednesday’s call-in.

Dellick said the call-in was going to affect more than the participants attending because it was being broadcast to students in the juvenile detention facility at the Juvenile Justice Center and also at some area schools “who need a push in the right direction.”