As Birmingham Faces Growing Number of Homicides, City’s RESTORE Program Aims to Reduce Youth Violence  

By Alaina Bookman | abookman@al.com Alaina Bookman reports for the “Beyond the Violence” collaborative, a partnership between AL.com, The Birmingham Times and CBS42. Support her work here. In 2022, 83 percent of perpetrators, up to age 22, charged with murder or attempted murder in Jefferson County were at some point involved in family court. And 69 percent of homicide victims ages 13-22 years old also had prior family court involvement, according to the Jefferson County Family Resource Center. Then the RESTORE program was enacted. Evidence suggests it has made a difference. Since the RESTORE program’s inception in 2023, the number of Jefferson County youth ages 13-22 years old who were charged with murder decreased by 80 percent, and homicide victims in the same age group dropped by 61 percent. In one year, the RESTORE program, a Birmingham-based reentry program, served 249 youth. From January to June 2024, 780 children and teens attended RESTORE workshops to talk about goal setting, accountability, healthy relationships, conflict resolution and how to express their emotions. And 703 services were rendered to participants and their families, including transportation, clothing, food, housing, education and employment, mental health and medication assistance. “We’re saving lives,” Antski Williams, RESTORE program...