Iowa Profile: Steering at-risk teens, adults toward a better path

IOWA CITY — Jes Lang feels like her “passion and purpose collided” when she started to build relationships last year between law enforcement, community members and social services so they could help teens and young adults involved with or vulnerable to gun violence.

Lang, of North Liberty, said she always wanted to help those in crisis make better choices and let them know they can change their lives. And that people and programs in the community can help.

Her role as community violence prevention coordinator started last June with the new Johnson County Community Violence Intervention Program is a perfect fit for personality and skills.

“I grew up in West Branch and lived here all my life,” Lang said. “I have so many contacts in the community, and I’m invested in the community. I’m married and have four kids and two grandsons. I’m good at connecting with people from all walks of life and building that rapport with them to find out what they need to succeed.”

Lang said the Community Violence Intervention Program is modeled after the national program and the Cedar Rapids Group Violence Intervention Program, which has helped reduce gun violence over the past few years.

It works, she said, because it’s proactive, instead of reactive, to stop gun violence and other illegal activity before it leads to deaths.

The program, which is supervised by the Johnson County Attorney’s Office, started last March when the Board of Supervisors approved $36,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds for its creation.

The program is an evidence-informed strategy that has community members work with law enforcement and social service providers to focus on vulnerable community members, ages 14 to 25. It aims to address the root causes of gun violence.

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Changing behavior

Lang said her job as coordinator is “made for her” because she’s always wanted to make a difference in someone’s life.

The program, she said, is about changing behaviors and letting someone know just because “you’ve been told doesn’t mean you are.” You don’t have to go down the same wrong path another family member or friend may have followed.

She has worked with people from different backgrounds and in difficult circumstances. She worked as a 911 dispatcher for about a year before moving to the Iowa Medical Classification Center, the state prison in Coralville, where she worked five years.

“Jes is perfect for the position and the position is perfect for her,” Johnson County Attorney Rachel Zimmermann Smith told The Gazette. “She truly sees the dignity and potential in everyone and is passionate about making sure that the people she is working with know that our community cares and wants them safe and free.

“This is the core of the program, and we couldn’t have asked for someone more energized and ready to get it off the ground than Jes.”

Lang said she looks at the big picture, seeing the beginning of a crime and consequences of that crime.

“And now I’m working to prevent them from going to prison and working with those who return to the community” from prison.

Lang is finishing her bachelor's degree at the University of Iowa in applied studies with an emphasis on justice studies and human relations. She will graduate in May. She also has a certificate in trauma informed care and resilience.

Coralville prison

At the Iowa Medical Classification Center, Lang was an activities specialist, talking and building rapport with inmates, learning how they ended up in prison. She said she saw them as individuals, rather than a “number” or somehow different from her.

She taught coping skills through activities and tried to build trust with the inmates.

“I listened to them and helped them feel heard and seen, just like we do in the CVI (Community Violence Intervention) Program,” Lang said. “It was about showing up and doing what I said I would do.”

Five months into her work at the prison, Lang was assaulted in her office. An inmate — who was allowed to be in the building but not the offices — came into her office and asked for a piece of paper, she said.

When she started to get him one, he locked her office door and grabbed her from behind, holding his hand over her mouth. She fought him and screamed loud enough for others in a gym, which her office overlooked, heard her, and guards intervened.

“I wasn’t hurt,” Lang said. “I went back to work the next day. I had a bigger reason for being there and wasn’t going to let this deter me. I wasn’t going to treat the others based on this person. Other inmates were angry at that person because they all liked me and knew how I treated them.”

She thought she would retire at the prison until she learned about the new Johnson County program.

Different paths

Lang believes in the violence intervention program’s mission, saying it takes both the community and law enforcement to find the root causes of behavior and encourage people to choose a different path.

Lang said sometimes it’s as simple as finding a solution for a teen whose bike is broken and he can’t get to school or his after-school job. Finding him a bike might keep him from ditching school and getting into trouble. She connected him with the Iowa City Bike Library, where he could repair his bike or check out a bike to use.

Another teen is interested in an emergency medical services/firefighter job. A job shadow will be arranged so he can learn more about the career, Lang said.

The Community Violence Intervention Program also helps adults by connecting them and their families with needed services.

“I love my job,” Lang said. “There’s never a dull day. Every day is different. It’s challenging but rewarding.”

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com