The number of people under 18 killed in Baltimore during the first six months of 2025 fell to two — the lowest level in more than a decade — mirroring the city’s broader decline in violence.

The decline comes as Baltimore and the state have begun treating gun violence as a public health crisis.

Officials and community groups have invested in programs meant to divert kids from gun violence, hopeful that they’ll inoculate younger generations.

Child victims of homicides and nonfatal shootings, ages 0-17, are consistently a fraction of overall counts through the years examined by The Baltimore Banner.

Baltimore has seen fewer than a dozen youth homicides during the first half of the year in each of the past 11 years, according to Baltimore Police Department data. But the two youth homicides in the first half of this year mark the lowest since at least 2015, the earliest year in which reliable data is available.

Nonfatal shootings increased slightly between 2024 and 2025, but are down by 49% since 2023.

Baltimore registered 66 total homicides through the end of June, according to data from Open Baltimore. Mayor Brandon Scott said the city has seen fewer killings this year than in the past 5 decades.

The city in recent years has launched a Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan through the mayor’s office that is focused on interrupting community violence and supporting families and children.

The state in 2023 started a violence intervention program targeting older teens in Baltimore and other jurisdictions based on the early success of the city’s Group Violence Reduction Strategy and meant to reach children most at risk of committing or being victims of gun violence.

Gov. Wes Moore also credits millions of dollars his administration has invested in law enforcement, aiding those agencies to prevent violence and hold perpetrators accountable.

“While there is still work to be done,” the Democratic governor said. “It is clear that this close collaboration with all partners involved is helping Maryland boast some of the most impressive crime drops in the entire country.”

‘We want to get to zero’

The historic declines tell Stefanie Mavronis, director of the Baltimore Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, that “we’re doing something right.”

City agencies, including hers, work with a wide network of nonprofits and community groups to create opportunities for connection and to keep children and families safe, she said.

Efforts such as conflict mitigation, extended recreation center hours, summer camps, teen pool parties and open court basketball nights don’t just offer alternatives, she said, but can also be a chance for the adults in charge to spot a child in need of help.

“If we’re seeing a young person who is 10 years old and outside at 2 a.m., we want to make sure that young person is safe in that moment and also what’s going on in their household, and how can we support that entire family unit,” she said.

One of the most powerful “ingredients” in the city’s strategy so far, she said, has been making sure “our young people know we care for you.”

It’s key to ensure these programs are sustainable, she said, because there’s more work to do — “We want to get to zero.”

At the state level, the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services started Thrive Academy, a gun violence prevention program, in September 2023. The program serves teens most at risk of gun violence, either as victims or a shooters.

Of the 131 kids across the state referred to the program in its first 12 months, only two were victims of gun violence, according to a state report, both nonfatal shootings. Of kids referred to Thrive, 1 in 5 were later rearrested for a gun charge.

The juvenile services agency matches at-risk kids with a mentor from select community organizations offering a slew of services, such as tutoring, job assistance and therapy. The state will even relocate a child and their family to a safer environment, depending on the circumstances.

The estimated cost of the program is about $14,500 per teen and the state is expanding the program to 300 kids. Incarcerating a child in Maryland costs more than $400,000 a year, according to a 2020 study.

“While every life lost remains one too many,” said Department of Juvenile Services spokesperson Michael Sharp, “this progress highlights what is possible when government agencies and community partners collaborate to meet the needs of young people.”

David Muhammad, executive director of the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, helped the state juvenile services agency set up Thrive Academy and has assisted with GVRS.

Nationally, there is a downward trend in gun violence, he said, and the city is experiencing some of that. But he credited the targeted coordination between officials, law enforcement and community groups with the significant drop seen in Baltimore.

Muhammad said context is key when it comes to statistics about youths as victims and as perpetrators. The concern raised by a 14-year-old being on either end of a gun is justified, but still statistically low, he said.

“So many people just have trouble understanding the obvious truth that youth shootings are a pretty small fraction of the total overall number,” he said. “They get about 80% of the attention, and they’re about 10% of the shootings.”

The Baltimore Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.

Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates credited children and their parents correcting risky behaviors. The city’s prosecutor said he regularly visits with youth groups across the city.

Bates, a Democrat, said he is “bullish” on the future of Baltimore’s children. It’s only a small number who have found themselves entangled in the youth justice system, he said — the overwhelming majority are doing just fine.

Methodology

The Banner looked at public crime data available on Open Baltimore, which showed year-to-date homicides of children have sharply declined since 2023. The analysis compared the first half of each year from 2015-2025.

The numbers count the deaths of those 17 and younger, include causes other than gun violence, and do not specify the ages of the alleged perpetrators. At least 64% of homicides of children listed guns as the weapon used, the data shows.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the name of the Group Violence Reduction Strategy.