BALTIMORE, MD (Wednesday, April 23, 2025) - Today, Mayor Brandon M. Scott announced his administration's BMore this Summer youth engagement strategy for 2025 "Outside in 2025".

The Scott Administration is again focusing its summer youth engagement strategy around providing events, opportunities, and resources for young people to enjoy themselves in a safe environment.

"Despite the progress we've made around public safety, I have been clear that we need to double down on our efforts, including to support and uplift our young people. This summer, all of Baltimore is coming together to do just that," said Mayor Brandon M. Scott. "We're combining a deeper focus on community-centered events, 25 weeks of ground-level safety engagement, and opportunities specifically tailored for young people to make the most out of the warmer months."

Programming Opportunities

The Mayor's Office and Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks (BCRP) are partnering to deliver a comprehensive set of summer programming opportunities specifically designed for young people to enjoy. Summer programming includes:

• BMore Night Hoops (ages 18+);
• Midnight Basketball (ages 14 -17);
• Teen pool parties at the Druid Hill Park Aquatic Center;
• 42 BCRP summer camp sites;
• BCRP's Rec on the Run mobile recreation facility;
• And Rock the Block family block parties.

Additionally, the following recreation centers will be operating under extended hours until 11pm every Friday and Saturday night from June 20 to August 16 and feature programming tailored to teens and young adults ages 13-20:

• CC Jackson, 4910 Park Heights Ave, Baltimore, MD 21216;
• Cahill, 4001 Clifton Ave, Baltimore, MD 21216;
• Robert C Marshall, 1201 Pennsylvania Ave, Baltimore, MD 21217;
• Middle Branch, 201 Reedbird Ave, Baltimore, MD 21225;
• Rita Church, 2101 St Lo Dr, Baltimore, MD 21213;
• Greenmount, 2304 Greenmount Ave, Baltimore, MD 21218;
• Edgewood/Lyndhurst, 835 Allendale St, Baltimore, MD 21229;
• Madison, 1401 E Biddle St, Baltimore, MD 21225;
• Lakeland, 2921 Stranden Rd, Baltimore, MD 21230.

The Mayor's Office has stood up a central information hub at www.bmorethissummer.org where young people and families can learn about programming, wraparound services, and register for events. This site will be regularly updated with the latest information and serve as a single hub for all City-led summer efforts.

This increased emphasis on youth programming is already underway. Last weekend, over 1,500 young people came out to enjoy live entertainment in Druid Hill Park without incident as part of Mayor Scott's Spring Break Teen Fest. Over 8,500 young people have signed up to be a part of the City's annual YouthWorks program.

This summer, Baltimore City Public Schools will have 12,000 slots across 10 different district run programs and 29 literacy focused programs with opportunities for grades Pre-K through 12 available. More information is available at www.baltimorecityschools.org/o/bcps/page/summer.

As part of this effort, Baltimore's Promise has facilitated roughly $2.5 million to support youth programming through the Summer Funding Collaborative (SFC). Additionally, BCYF is supporting more than 40 organizations with $2.9 million through the Summer Funding Collaborative on top of directly investing over $600,000 to strengthen partnerships with grassroots organizations and expand access to summer arts programming across Baltimore neighborhoods.

Youth Safety Engagement

As announced last week, the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE) has begun mobilizing community violence intervention partners to conduct ground-level outreach where young people are likely to congregate.

Community partners will continue to be active in areas where young people regularly congregate Friday and Saturday nights, as well as Sunday nights on holiday weekends, from now through the end of summer. Staff will emphasize relationship building with young people, proactive engagement with young people to de-escalate conflicts and prevent potential violence, and serve as a resource to help connect youth with services as needed.

The following partners are being mobilized as part of this effort:

• For My Kidz;
• Redesigning Minds;
• The Movement Team;
• The PEACE Team.

City leadership has forged a partnership with B-360, an organization that focuses on dirt bike culture to empower Baltimore youth and get them interested in STEM education. Last month B-360 held a ribbon-cutting event for its first brick-and-mortar location at Harborplace in downtown Baltimore. During the weekend, the City in partnership with outreach community partners, will utilize the space as a Youth Connection Center to convene and reconnect youth that need resources and additional support.

Correlated with the strategy's activation last summer, youth shooting victimizations decreased 66 percent and aggravated assault victimizations dropped 31 percent in 2024.