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A long-awaited report commissioned by the province after the shooting death of 15-year-old Jordan Manners in May 2007, was released Friday with 30 major recommendations to combat the "increasing concentration of violent crime among younger people."

It took more than a year for former Ontario cabinet ministers Roy McMurtry and Alvin Curling to do research, engage various stakeholders including youth groups and finally write the five-volume report on the roots of youth violence.

"The trends we identify in our report, although largely masked by the overall stability of the crime figures, suggest that Ontario is incubating an increase in youth violence, and in more serious violence," the authors stated in their report.

That included an increasing use of guns and knives by youth to settle disputes and the growth in the prevalence of both guns and gangs, the report said.

McMurtry and Curling identified some of the roots of youth violence, which included such social factors as poverty, racism, children's mental health and youth justice.

"We believe that Ontario needs to focus on addressing the roots where they are the most entrenched and damaging: in neighbourhoods characterized by high concentrations of poverty," the report stated.

Of the recommendations offered, they called for special attention to the development of a "universal, community-based children's mental health system" as well as the implementation of anti-racism plans such as the collection of race-based statistics in the education and youth criminal justice system.

The Toronto District School Board (TDSB), which has already been collecting demographic data about students to help marginalized youth succeed, welcomed the report's findings.

Board chair John Campbell agreed in particular with the need to better co-ordinate the efforts of government, community organizations and school boards to address the issue of youth violence.

"We have an important role to play," said Campbell, noting the TDSB has already taken some action after releasing its own report on school safety following the death of Jordan at C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute. "In both cases, these reports bring a heightened sense of awareness and urgency to all levels of governments to deal with these issues."

Some of the initiatives taken by the TDSB include the adoption of an equity policy with a dedicated executive officer to ensure its implementation and providing inner city schools with a variety of health and nutrition support programs.

Campbell added the Review of the Roots of Youth Violence report is more of a call for action on the part of the provincial government.

"It'll be interesting to see how the province responds," he said.