“Choosing Concrete Solutions – Over Concrete Plans”

Tyrone Barnwell will report on the efforts of the 3 C’s Youth Initiative to block the proposed juvenile detention facility in Baltimore City (“Youth Jail”). 3 C’s is winning support from lawmakers at both the City and State levels. The State of Maryland commissioned the prestigious National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) to study the need for a Youth Jail. NCCD produced a report that identified specific scenarios with recommendations that if implemented would avoid needless costs to build any Youth Jail. The State is intentionally ignoring its own report and opting to push for more incarceration for more generations of African-American youth. None of the five NCCD Report scenarios requires any capital or construction costs. The recommendations would cost only a fraction of prison guards and other operational costs. Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services Secretary Maynard admitted his agency had not even considered the NCCD Report. He said he’d welcome the opportunity, but wasn’t given authority to do so. NCCD showed proven approaches to beat back racist policies, but Governor O’Malley keeps pushing to incarcerate African-American youth.

Tyrone Barnwell is the Founder and Director of the 3 C’s Youth Initiative, a new African-American youth-led organization. The three C’s stand for Choose, Change, and Control. The 3C’s are committed to mobilizing other youth to be involved in the Choice, the Change, and the Control to speak on what will affect their education, empowerment and outcomes of their lives in Baltimore City. He believes that ending the cradle to prison pipeline that fuels mass incarceration of people of color means not just stopping bad policies and practices, but starting new ones that invest in ourselves and our communities. Learn more at http://www.3csyouthinitiative.org. Mr. Barnwell is a proud father of two beautiful daughters and a son. Mr. Barnwell has received a Mayor’s citation and a Senator’s citation for community leadership. He started his community work in the year of 2000 as the youngest member of the Rosemont Neighborhood Community Association. In 2004 he became President of the Leaders of Tomorrow, a youth entrepreneurship program with the 4H of America. Barnwell became the Community Organizer for the Safe and Sound Campaign in Baltimore City in 2010, leading the successful Youth Ambassador program. In 2012 Barnwell became the President of the Belmont Elementary School PTA, where his daughters attend. He also serves as a member of The Sustained Solution (TSS), which offers workforce development services for the Brooklyn Park, Westport, and Cherry Hill areas.