S-1562.1
SENATE BILL 5945
State of Washington | 66th Legislature | 2019 Regular Session |
BySenators Warnick, Sheldon, King, Conway, Honeyford, Brown, and Walsh
Read first time 02/18/19.Referred to Committee on Human Services, Reentry & Rehabilitation.
AN ACT Relating to creation of a pilot project to reduce youth gang involvement, crime, and violence in eastern Washington; and making an appropriation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The sum of one million four hundred forty-eight thousand dollars from the state general fund for fiscal year 2020 and the sum of one million four hundred forty-eight thousand dollars from the state general fund for fiscal year 2021, or so much thereof as may be necessary, are each appropriated to the department of commerce and are provided solely for the department to provide a grant to building bridges east, a nonprofit agency, to reduce youth gang involvement, crime, and violence in eastern Washington. The funding provided in this subsection must be used to contract for the operation of the el nuevo camino pilot projects for Moses Lake, Mattawa, Quincy, Othello, Toppenish, Wapato, Zillah, western lower valley in Yakima county, Kennewick, Richland, and Pasco.
(2) The department must adopt policies and procedures to administer the el nuevo camino pilot project and track compliance and outcomes.
(3) The grant recipient must:
(a) Provide antigang services in eastern Washington;
(b) Pledge and provide a minimum of thirty percent of matching funds over the 2019-2021 biennium;
(c) Establish a coordinated effort with committed partners, including law enforcement, prosecutors, mental health practitioners, and schools;
(d) Demonstrate a clear plan to engage in long-term antigang efforts after the conclusion of the pilot project;
(e) Work to reduce youth gang crime and violence by implementing the comprehensive gang model of the federal juvenile justice and delinquency prevention act of 1974;
(f) Increase mental health services to unserved and underserved youth by implementing the best practice youth mental health model of the national center for mental health and juvenile justice;
(g) Work to keep high-risk youth in school, reenroll dropouts, and improve academic performance and behavior by engaging in a grass roots team approach in schools with the most serious youth violence and mental health problems, which must include a unique and identified team in each district participating in the project;
(h) Hire a project manager and quality assurance coordinator;
(i) Adhere to recommended quality control standards for Washington state research-based juvenile offender programs as set forth by the Washington state institute for public policy;
(j) Provide mentoring services for ten juvenile rehabilitation parolees; and
(k) Report to the department by September 1, 2020, and September 1, 2021, with the following:
(i) The number of youth and adults served through the project and the types of services accessed and received;
(ii) The number of youth satisfactorily completing chemical dependency treatment in the county;
(iii) The number of youth satisfactorily completing mental health treatment in each county;
(iv) The estimated change in gang participation and gang violence;
(v) The estimated change in dropout and graduation rates;
(vi) The estimated change in overall crime rates and crimes typical of gang activity;
(vii) The estimated change in recidivism for youth offenders in the county; and
(viii) Other information required by the department or otherwise pertinent to the pilot project.
(4) The department shall report the information from subsection (3)(k) of this section and other relevant data to the governor and appropriate committees of the legislature by October 1, 2020, and October 1, 2021.
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