Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25) and Jitu Brown, national director of Journey for Justice, during the subject matter hearing Tuesday.

Expanding job opportunities and widening community resources for kids and young adults could help quell violence in the city this summer following a gun violence spike amid the COVID-19 pandemic, officials and advocates told aldermen on Tuesday.

More than a dozen witnesses  from neighborhood associations, justice advocacy groups, city departments, the mayor’s office and officials from the Chicago Police Department and the Park District described an array of strategies to help stymie violence in the city during Tuesday’s joint meeting of the City Council Committee on Health and Human Relations and Committee on Public Safety.