Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative
Brief Overview
BACKGROUND
While Seattle has experienced some of the lowest overall crime rates in years, the number of juvenile violent crime incidents has remained constant. In 2008, Mayor Greg Nickels proposed the Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative to dramatically change how the city deals with youth violence.
GOALS
The goals of the Initiative are to achieve:
- a 50% reduction in certain court referrals of juveniles, and
- a 50% reduction in suspensions and expulsions from selected middle schools due to violence-related incidents.
WHO’S ELIGIBLE?
The Initiative focuses on about 800 youth ages 12-17, residing or going to school in the Southwest, Central or South East Seattle Neighborhoods and who:
- have been convicted of specific, serious offenses;
- have been arrested but not detained;
- are middle school students at-risk of chronic truancy or multiple suspensions due to violent behavior; or
- have been victimized by violent incidents in their neighborhoods.
WHAT ARE THE SERVICES?
The range of SYVPI funded services coordinated at the community level includes:
- community outreach
- case management
- anger management
- mentoring
- youth employment
- recreation programming
- Neighborhood Matching Fund projects serving targeted youth
- extended hours with sports & arts programming at Seattle Parks and Recreation Youth Centers
- School emphasis offices assigned to specific schools will also provide additional resources to youth in need.
Central Area Network Coordination Hub:
The network hub is a key element of the SYVPI. Instead of managing services centrally through city departments, networks will ensure services and community resources are used more effectively to meet the unique needs of the SYVPI priority populations. The Hub:
- Provides effective communication among SYVPI leadership, the City, outreach workers, network intake specialists, case managers, and service providers.
- Builds Strong community partnerships with independent funding serving the same population of youth.
- Engaging community members in the SYVPI effort community members to inform them of the SYVPI, provide opportunities for them to engage with youth, and provide activities that will allow youth to show positive leadership in pro-social activities.
- Consults with active and engaged advisory board of community stakeholders, community- and faith-based organizations, youth and families
Guiding/Core Principles for this hub approach include:
- Taking into consideration the services offered by area churches, faith based organizations and community groups that are not necessarily part of basic case management services, or counted in our funnels. These community organizations are valuable assets and make meaningful contributions towards reducing violent behavior in our youth.
- Focusing on keeping youth in school, vocational training or employment, and incident free.
- Breaking the cycle of those who are committing violent acts and providing positive alternatives.
- Identifying and reacting to early and persistent anti-social behaviors and setting pro-social goals for our youth participants.
- Sharing accountability with community for honoring the positive progress of youth participants, with celebrations for students and their families.
On-going Outreach and Youth Advocacy
Outreach Team Members (also known as outreach workers) are a critical component of the Initiative. Street outreach workers engage a large number of youth throughout Seattle who may or may not meet the SYVPI eligibility criteria and direct them to appropriate program services. They listen to youth and provide access to various resources, mediate/de-escalate conflicts, provide pro-social role modeling and encouragement. They reach out to youth in their environment at community events, on street corners, in parks, in homes of youth, and in other places where youth hang out. Although the outreach team member is primarily an advocate for the youth but he must also help youth understand that he or she should be accountable for his or her negative behavior.
The Street Outreach Program is staffed by individuals with strong ties to the communities in which they serve. All team members are pre-screened by Seattle Police Department. If a team member has a criminal history, that team member must be further vetted to ensure he or she is no longer involved in gangs, crime, or other questionable behaviors. Team members receive ongoing training on mediation, de-escalation, ethics, and other relevant topics.
Critical Incident Response
When a major act of violence occurs involving youth (critical incident), the outreach team is “deployed.”
The Street Outreach Program provides services to survivors and family members. They also specifically provide street outreach to the youth and young adults who are most likely to be the perpetrators and victims of violence. These strategies are designed to interrupt violence before it happens, mediate the impact of violence when it does happen, and change the culture of violence.