Baltimore announces summer youth engagement plan

Mayor Brandon Scott has shared details of Baltimore’s third iteration of a summer youth engagement plan.

The plan — dubbed “In the Mix in ’26”— is “designed to promote community safety while minimizing unnecessary interaction with young people and law enforcement,” the mayor’s office said in a news release.

Under the plan, young people will be offered access to activities including teen concerts, pool parties at Druid Hill Park, block parties, neighborhood basketball leagues and a mobile recreation unit.

Seven recreation centers will be open for extended hours during the summer. They are:

• Cahill, 4001 Clifton Ave.
• CC Jackson, 4910 Park Heights Ave.
• Chick Webb, 1401 East Monument St.
• Edgewood-Lyndhurst, 835 Allendale St.
• Greenmount, 2304 Greenmount Ave.
• Middle Branch Fitness and Wellness Center, 201 Reedbird Ave.
• Rita R. Church Community Center, 2101 St. Lo Drive

Families can sign young people up for events and learn about other programming through an online information hub. A youth connection center has also been established at B-360’s Inner Harbor location for those who need additional support.

Recreation and Parks Director Reginald Moore, speaking at a news conference Wednesday, urged young people to follow the department on social media to find out how to register for events, including the pool parties at Druid Hill Park that he said are “like Beyoncé tickets.”

“When that announcement drops, they don’t last long,” he said to the students. “So be ready.”

Baltimore City Public Schools is also offering about 10,350 spots for programs it is running across 19 schools.

“As always, our goal this summer is to keep our young people safe, connected, and engaged by combining non-traditional curfew engagement with programming directly tailored to their interests,” Scott said.

The city’s summer curfew for minors will begin at midnight on May 22, the Friday before Memorial Day, and will remain in effect until midnight on Aug. 30.

During that time, anyone under 14 is prohibited from being in public spaces from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. Minors ages 14-17 have a curfew that begins at 11 p.m. Exempted from the curfew are minors accompanied by a parent, engaged in employment, emergencies or First Amendment activities, and those attending supervised events.

The Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement began recruiting violence interventionists and social workers to do ground-level outreach to young people frequenting hangout hot spots after curfew in late March.

There are 30 to 40 people doing outreach on a given night, according to MONSE.

Those outreach workers will continue that work on weekends and holidays until the end of the summer. Their goal is to build relationships with young people that will allow them to deescalate conflict and prevent future violence while offering them wraparound resources and job opportunities.

Community partners mobilized in this effort have recorded 434 interactions with young people this year. About 47 of them were provided services ranging from employment to housing assistance, the release said.

The city’s efforts in 2025 drew more than 3,000 to its summer camp, and over 1,300 attended at least one teen fest. YouthWorks, a yearly employment program, made more than 8,600 job offers to young people.

As of Wednesday, more than 11,000 youths and 650 worksites had joined the YouthWorks program.

Dr. Letitia Dzirasa, the deputy mayor of health and human services, said, on top of overall homicide lows in the city, there has been a 57% reduction in young people as victims of nonfatal shootings and a 36% reduction in young people as victims of aggravated assault. She said the decreases are a result of many things, including the citywide curfew and tailored youth events during the summer.

“We have seen thousands of young people show up, not because they had to but because they wanted to,” said Noell West, the assistant deputy mayor for health and human services. “That is a win for Baltimore.”