Victorian Premier Ben Carroll told a social services seminar he had witnessed first-hand the success of youth violence reduction programs, including visiting New York's Harlem Children's Zone.
"Being tough on crime is one thing, but you need to be tougher on the causes of crime," Mr Carroll told the event, hosted by the Victorian Council of Social Service on Tuesday.
"I am certain that early intervention, education, and making schools the centre of communities is our pathway forward for every young person to live a life of purpose."
Deputy opposition leader David Southwick told the seminar a coalition government's promised $100 million for early intervention programs would ensure less spend down the track.
Victorian Greens leader Ellen Sandell spruiked her party's crime prevention proposal which draws from the new Office of Community Safety established by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
The Greens would invest $1 billion to help fund 24/7 crisis outreach, prevention programs and provide additional funding for frontline mental health, alcohol and other drug treatment and homelessness services.
"We can't keep doing the same thing and expecting a different response," Ms Sandell said.
Since the safety office was established in March, New York had experienced the safest summer for violent crime on record.
"We can do the same here in Victoria," Ms Sandell said.
Children as young as 14 continue to face being tried and sentenced as adults in Victoria for violent crimes including home invasions, making jail time more likely.
The majority of people in youth prisons had experienced trauma and been let down by government services and systems, Youthlaw chief executive Lee Carnie told AAP.
"It doesn't make sense to say that you're going to focus on early intervention and prevention and introduce tough youth crime laws," they said.
"Too often, children who are being punished under these laws have been removed by the government because they have been in family situations where they've experienced childhood abuse, violence and neglect.
"To then punish those children for behaviour where they haven't had the supports that they deserve seems profoundly cruel."
Labor has allocated $33 million into a violence reduction unit, which included a $3.7 million fund to adapt a New York community-based gang violence intervention framework following its success in Brooklyn.
Despite not being represented at the event, One Nation was a topic of discussion, with Mr Carroll accusing the party of being in an unofficial coalition with the Liberals.Â
Mr Southwick maintained the position of leader Jess Wilson in refusing to rule out working with One Nation, but said his party wanted to govern in its own right.
"We're not entertaining anything other than ensuring that Victorians get the change that they need," he said.
VCOSS chief executive Juanita Pope called on all potential leaders to prioritise policy which puts an end to poverty and "pay what it takes" for community services to meet community need.
"It's not unreasonable to think that in a state as prosperous as ours, everyone should have the essentials of a dignified life," she said.
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