Catching Kids Before They Fall: When cultures clash, youths can crash | Safe Schools

STORY & PHOTOS By JOYCE RIHA LINIK

SEATTLE, Washington-Not far from the coffeehouses, clam bars, and bookshops of Seattle's waterfront district lies the Duwamish Waterway-poetic to the tongue, but harsh to the eye. This industrial stretch of shipping docks and smokestacks greets visitors to West Seattle, where one of the city's largest public housing communities can be found. Like those of other cities, the High Point housing complex's concrete facades are weathered and scarred with graffiti, much of it scrawled by gangs marking their turf.

Headlines tell the story: "GIRL SCOUTS EARN BADGES BEHIND BARS," "TWELVE-YEAR-OLD BOY SENTENCED FOR SETTING MAN ON FIRE," "HONORS STUDENT CHARGED WITH DEATH OF HER NEWBORN," "JUVENILE CHARGED WITH MURDER OF 65-YEAR-OLD WOMAN."

Kids in King County are committing more serious crimes at younger ages, according to the county Department of Youth Services. The agency also reports a growing number of offenses committed by adolescent girls and an increase in gang involvement for both boys and girls.

Because of this rash of juvenile violence, Seattle was one of six sites nationwide to receive a $1.4 million annual SafeFutures grant from the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). Managed by the Seattle Department of Housing and Human Services, the five-year project focuses on intervention efforts for children involved in the juvenile justice system or those at risk of becoming involved.

But SafeFutures goes one step farther. It works to prevent the need for any intervention at all-to catch children before they fall.

Project goals are:

Reduction in family, individual, and community factors that may cause youth to become perpetrators or victims of antisocial or violent acts
Promotion of family, individual, and community factors that protect youth
Implementation of effective interventions for youth and families of youth involved in all levels of the juvenile justice system

Individual projects supported by SafeFutures run the gamut from preventive tutoring programs to counseling to mentoring programs for juveniles once they get out of detention. The broad-based initiative links community organizations and agencies across the full spectrum of child development, from before birth through adulthood.

"We need to look at the root causes-at what's happening that causes children to use weapons," says SafeFutures manager Harla Tumbleson. "Kids don't have to carry guns if they have a value system in place and recognize the futility of violence."

Sharon Chew, coordinator of the effort, agrees. "We really need to go beyond putting metal detectors in schools," she says. "We need to do everything possible to promote the well-being of kids."

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Date of Last Update: 9/28/01
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