Johnson County’s new Community Violence Intervention outreach worker brings lived experience to the role

IOWA CITY — After two years of Jes Lang running Johnson County’s Community Violence Intervention program mostly by herself, the county has hired another outreach worker to expand the reach of the program.

The violence intervention program works by identifying those who are at risk of participating in and being a victim of violence and reaching out to them through a personal visit — called a custom notification — from a group of social workers, law enforcement and other community members. The group talks with the at-risk individuals about the risks associated with violence, and offer support and resources to help establish better patterns of behavior.

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For the past two years, Lang has been working with nonprofits and law enforcement in the county to coordinate these visits herself, but now she’ll have an extra set of hands to help with the process.

Marques Brooks started working with the program in July, and will be focusing on building community relationships, especially with youth in Johnson County.

Brooks has been hired as a full-time outreach worker under Johnson County Public Health. Lang, the community violence intervention coordinator, is housed under the Johnson County Attorney’s Office.

The Gazette talked with Brooks about his new role and his goals as he joins the work of community violence intervention in Johnson County.

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Q: Tell me about your career background before joining the CVI program?

A: For the last six to seven years, I've been involved in this type of work with corrections. I worked at the Guidelink Center. I am currently working there right now, part-time as a safety technician. I've been there for about three years. Then I picked up a position at Linn County Detention Center as a youth counselor, and I've been working there for about a year and a half now. I still currently work there, also part-time. Then I transitioned into CVI work, which now gives me a full-range opportunity to reach out to the community, which helps with the youth that are in need of services and resources.

I have a degree in health and human physiology from the University of Iowa. I graduated in 2013. I also have an associate degree from Kirkwood as well. I am planning to go back to get my Master’s. I was this semester, but I pushed it back a year to do CVI. So, I'll be going back in 2026 for rehabilitation counseling, for my Master’s.

Other than that, I'm pretty well known in the community. I do music as well, and I'm in a lot of different projects.

Q: How have your experiences in your personal life prepared you to take on this role?

A: I was a troubled youth. I did end up in detention centers and on probation, having juvenile court officers and stuff like that. So, throughout my years of high school, that's kind of what I was troubled with. I was in a foster home, as well, for a little while, so I know the ins and outs of being on the other side and not having those resources to get me to a better path. I kind of had to figure it out on my own.

After high school, I grinded my way up to doing what I need to be doing and getting on the right path, staying positive, staying hopeful of becoming a great man. And that's where I'm at today: doing what I need to be doing and giving back to the community.

Q: Do you think your life would have looked different if you’d had access growing up to the resources you’re now helping provide?

A: I was talking to a person I met the other day about that. I asked if there were resources back then. I didn't know of any of those resources. If there were, I think I probably would have still needed a little help, because I think things are a lot different now. I think there's a lot more information out there, for the resources, and where those resources could potentially take you, compared to back then. I definitely think it would have helped me in a more positive way, rather than me doing it on my own and figuring it out on my own.

Guidance always helps. Support always helps. But I do have that unique quality of knowing what it's like to keep pushing and persevering through the hard times and making it to a better place.

Q: How did you hear about this position, and what drew you to want to apply for the role?

A: Working at the Guidelink Center, Jessica Lang was doing the ... program, and she saw me working there, and she actually came up to me, out of the blue, and asked me what did I think about applying for the CVI position. She felt like, based on my energy and vibe, that I would be a good candidate for them. So, I took her up on that, and I applied.

I went through everything I needed to with the interviews and stuff, but when I went into the interview room, when I left, they said that they knew that I was the person for the job. I was grateful to be chosen.

Q: Tell me more about your work at the Guidelink Center

A: It’s for substance abuse clients, and those that are in crisis. I'm a safety technician there. So, basically what I do there is I just watch the area and make sure the building is safe and secure for the clients, and also I'll build relationships with some of the clients, as well. If they have moments of crisis, I'm the one that can come in and talk to them and calm them down — if they want to talk about what they’ve got going on, personally — and it ultimately helps them out in the end.

Q: What are you hoping to see from the CVI program in the coming years?

A: I think the most important thing is building the relationships with the kids, with the youth, and then also strengthening those resources, so when there is … a rough patch for a youth, how can we be able to segue and direct them right to the place that they need to go to get them the help that they need.

I think the main thing about the youth, that we tend to forget, is they have needs and, on their end, they have a hard time expressing those needs. But once we get to that point that we’ve figured out what we need to do for them, to help them, then that’s where things end positively.

Q: Having been in the CVI role for about a month now, what has your day-to-day work looked like so far?

A: Right now, I’m meeting everybody in the community, letting them know that I am here if they need my help in anything. And right away, we actually are starting to visit with some of the youth in the community that have had a little trouble earlier in the year, letting them know that I'm here and if they need me for anything, great. Then from there, we’ll build consistency, just check up on them, make sure they're doing all right. And from there, hopefully they get their needs met.

Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com