Yakima Valley Gang Violence Prevention Annual Report (September 30, 2023)
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- Congressional materials
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- 2023 Commercereports Yakima Valley Gang Preventionfinal 8Fc7Aea3 Fcb3 48Cd
- Case
- 2023 Commercereports Yakima Valley Gang Preventionfinal 8Fc7Aea3 Fcb3 48Cd
Summary
The Yakima Valley Gang Violence Prevention Annual Report is a report to the Legislature from the Washington State Department of Commerce, Office of Firearm Safety and Violence Prevention, dated September 30, 2023 and prepared under Section 128(191) of Chapter 297, Laws of 2022. It describes a $500,000 fiscal year 2023 appropriation for a community consortium, led by the Northwest Communities Education Center and Radio KDNA, to prevent gang violence in Yakima County. The report states that the outreach campaign aired 48 one-hour radio programs reaching 25,000 listeners and that 17,027 people received information at community events. It reports workshop attendance, including 567 students, and survey results from parents and students. Its next steps note $375,000 appropriated each year for the 2023-2025 biennium.
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“Yakima Valley Gang Violence Prevention Annual Report (September 30, 2023).”
Original at app.leg.wa.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2023-commercereports-yakima-valley-gang-preventionfinal-8fc7aea3-fcb3-48cd/
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Report pursuant to Section 128(191) of Chapter 297, Laws of 2022
(the supplemental operating budget)
September 30, 2023
Report to the Legislature
OFFICE OF FIREARM SAFETY AND VIOLENCE
PREVENTION/COMMUNITY SAFETY UNIT
Director Mike Fong
v3.4
Acknowledgments
Washington State Department of Commerce
Cindy Guertin-Anderson, Assistant Director
Community Services Division
Kate, Kelly, Executive Director
Office of Firearm Safety and Violence Prevention
kate.kelly@commerce.wa.gov
Phone: 360-628-6846
Northwest Community Education Centers
Gilbert Alaniz
Vice President Eastern Region
121 Sunny Side Ave
Granger, WA 98932
Phone: (589) 307-0822
Washington State Department of Commerce
1011 Plum St. SE
P.O. Box 42525
Olympia, WA 98504-2525
www.commerce.wa.gov
For people with disabilities, this report is available on
request in other formats. To submit a request, please
call 360-725-4000 (TTY 360-586-0772)
YAKIMA VALLEY GANG VIOLENCE PREVENTION ANNUAL REPORT 2
2.0
Table of Contents
Executive summary...................................................................................................................................... 4
Legislative mandate..................................................................................................................................... 4
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 5
Program evaluation ..................................................................................................................................... 7
Next steps ................................................................................................................................................. 10
YAKIMA VALLEY GANG VIOLENCE PREVENTION 3
Executive summary
Overview
The Washington State Legislature appropriated $500,000 to the Department of Commerce for fiscal year 2023
for a contract with a community-based nonprofit organization for a community consortium to develop and
implement strategies to prevent gang violence in Yakima County. The consortium, in conjunction with a public
radio station, must conduct a Spanish-language public radio media outreach campaign with the aim of linking
gang-involved youth with employment, educational, and training opportunities. In conducting the outreach
campaign, the consortium may work with schools, grassroots organizations, faith-based groups, law
enforcement, families, and juvenile justice agencies. The project is in response to high gang violence rates in
the Yakima Valley. From 2010 to 2023, 28% of murders in the City of Yakima were related to gang activity.1
Commerce contracted with the Northwest Communities Education Center (NCEC) and Radio KDNA to lead the
project. The two organizations led the Gang Violence Consortium, focusing on school districts in Grandview,
Sunnyside, Granger, Toppenish and Wapato. The consortium called for community institutions to work
together to prevent students from joining gang-related activities. Partners included law enforcement, schools,
social services agencies, and grassroots organizations.
Legislative mandate
Section 128(191) of Chapter 297, Laws of 2022 (the supplemental operating budget) directs:
(191)(a) $500,000 of the general fund—state appropriation for fiscal year 2023 is provided solely for a contract with
a community based nonprofit organization located in the Yakima valley to develop a community consortium for the
purpose of developing and implementing strategies for the prevention of gang violence in Yakima county.
(b) The consortium must include representation from community-based organizations, gang-involved youth, law
enforcement agencies, and state agencies involved in juvenile justice.
(c) The consortium must develop after-school activities such as counseling, tutoring, and computer literacy for gang-
involved youth, in conjunction with local school districts.
(d) The consortium must, in conjunction with a public radio station, conduct a Spanish-language public radio media
outreach campaign with the aim of linking gang-involved youth with employment, educational, and training
opportunities. In conducting the outreach campaign, the consortium may work with schools, grassroots
organizations, faith-based groups, law enforcement, families, and juvenile justice agencies.
(e) In developing its outreach and intervention activities, the consortium may facilitate workshops and conferences,
either in person or virtual, with educators, parents, and youth.
(f) By June 30, 2023, the department must provide a report to the appropriate committees of the legislature. The
report must include:
(i) A description of the gang violence prevention programs conducted by the consortium and how they were
implemented;
(ii) A description of any virtual community events, workshops, and conferences held; and
1 Murder Map Dashboard (yakimawa.gov)
YAKIMA VALLEY GANG VIOLENCE PREVENTION 4
(iii) The number of individuals who participated in or received services through the programs conducted by
the consortium, including any relevant demographic data for those individuals.
Introduction
Yakima Valley Gang Violence Consortium
Commerce awarded the Yakima Valley Gang Violence Prevention Program Grant to the Northwest
Communities Education Center (NCEC) and Radio KDNA. Radio KDNA is a Spanish-language public radio
station that launched in 1979. It operates in Eastern Washington's Yakima Valley within a 100-mile radius of
the lower Yakima Valley broadcast area. KDNA aims to encourage and motivate its listeners by educating,
informing, and mobilizing them to become involved in the Valley’s culture and on topics that affect their health,
education, and civic engagement. The radio station allows Spanish-speaking listeners to learn English and
“become citizens and to fully understand all the implications of benefits received from schools, state, and
federal agencies.”
The Gang Violence Consortium focused on the Grandview, Sunnyside, Granger, Toppenish, and Wapato school
districts. The Consortium called for local groups — including law enforcement, schools, social service
agencies, and grassroots organizations — to work together to prevent students from engaging in gang-related
activities in the five districts, with the cooperation of law enforcement and juvenile justice agencies. The
Consortium produced a comprehensive and collaborative project that focused on:
Reaching underserved populations with limited literacy and that experience cultural and information
isolation.
Providing resources for after school activities, including mentoring, job training, and placement services.
Producing a radio show utilizing its people to promote educational gang prevention/intervention programs.
The radio show aired seven days a week during prime time hours.
Providing after-school tutoring and remedial classes in English, math, and science.
Conducting parent workshops and giving regular presentations to students.
Outreach campaign
The outreach campaign aired from July 2022 to June 2023 on radio and social media. The campaign provided
48 one-hour radio programs about gang and drug intervention and prevention programming that reached
25,000 listeners across Yakima County. Programming included:
Six informational capsules that pinpoint opioid misuse, drug awareness, and treatment education.
Short radio novellas or short radio dramas that use storytelling to illustrate the negative impact of gang
affiliation on families.
A social media campaign to share resources, including parenting guides about gangs, domestic violence
affecting children, and warning signs of gang involvement linked by hashtags such as #RadioKDNA,
#Prevention, and #GangViolence.
There was also direct contact with students at risk of gang violence. A common theme for youth enticed to join
the gang lifestyle is a lack of school engagement. Direct Service to Students offered after-school tutoring
programs for students to catch up on missing or failing classwork so students would not fall behind in school.
In the Mabton School District, 12 students participated in a credit retrieval program to support those falling
behind in academic classes. This program provided a resource for students to stay on track with schoolwork.
YAKIMA VALLEY GANG VIOLENCE PREVENTION 5
Community events
From July 2022 to June 2023, NCEC/Radio KDNA participated in community activities to bring awareness
about gang violence to different events. Over the year, 17,027 people received information about gang violence
and awareness, substance abuse, health care, and other community and nonprofit resources. Outreach staff
reached out to area farmworkers to share information about gang awareness.
Some examples of community events and number of participants reached:
Sunnyside High School fall school conference: 150 people
Yakima's Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC) hosted the OIC Family Night Harvest Party: 250
people, including parents, grandparents, and youth.
Granger School District Literacy/Migrant Night: 250 people.
Fred Hutchinson Resource Fair: 300 people, with an emphasis on health.
Valley Vista Health Fair: 350 people, with an emphasis on nonprofit resources, health care, and law
enforcement information.
Workshops and conferences: Gang prevention workshops for parents and students were held in February.
Material focused on promoting awareness of the dangers of gangs, helping others to understand signs to
look for, and where to go for help.
Workshops and conferences
During this program year, the outreach staff facilitated one main conference, four parent workshops, and three
student workshops in the Grandview, Sunnyside, Granger, Toppenish and Wapato school districts. The school
districts assisted with developing workshop material. A total of 567 students attended the workshops, which
focused on the following:
Educating parents about the dangers of gang violence
Raising student awareness about the consequences of gang involvement
Educating students on who to talk to about gangs and drugs
YAKIMA VALLEY GANG VIOLENCE PREVENTION 6
Program evaluation
This community partnership offered workshops and events to educate parents and school-age youth about the
danger of drugs and gangs. The migrant parents' workshop educated parents about gangs, available resources
and how to talk to their children about gangs. Twenty-six migrant parents attended the workshop. The chart
below, based on post-conference surveys, shows that the vast majority of parents found the material valuable.
Migrant Parents Survey
30
25
25 24 24
21
20
15
10
5
2 2 2
1
0
Participants learned something in The presentation was helpful Participants listens to KDNA for Workshop information will help
the workshop gang prevention Information parents talk to their children
about gangs
Yes No
YAKIMA VALLEY GANG VIOLENCE PREVENTION 7
Outreach events
The program held outreach and community events in the cities of Grandview, Sunnyside, Mabton, and Wapato.
In total, 239 people attended. The chart below demonstrates the demographic makeup of attendees at
community events.
Total Outreach Events/Workshop Demographics
239 Total Participants
89.5%
81.6%
66.5%
60.3%
52.3%
33.5%
White Hispanic Female Male Over 18 Under 18
Student presentations
Presentations focused on providing sixth- and eighth-grade students information about drugs and gang
involvement. A total of 173 students participated in the workshop, with most students reporting that they
learned something and had a better understanding of the consequences of youth gang involvement.
Presentation helped me be more aware of the consequences of youth
gang involvement
n=173
90 82
79
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
9
10 3
0
Male Yes Male No Female Yes Female No
YAKIMA VALLEY GANG VIOLENCE PREVENTION 8
Among female sixth-grade students, 96% reported the workshop resulted in greater awareness about gang
involvement.
Sixth grade females reporting increased awareness of the consequences
of youth gang involvement
n=85
90 82
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10 3
0
Females Yes Female No
When eighth grade students were asked what they learned, 82% came away with the message to not get into
gangs and that gangs are bad. When the same students were asked whom they would talk to about gangs,
63% indicated they would speak to family, parents, relatives, or siblings.
Eigth grade students most common comments about the presentation
on gang violence n=120
120
99
100
80
60
40
15
20 6
0
Gangs affect future life goals, employment, Drugs and alcohol are bad, drugs and Don't get into gangs, gangs are bad
education and cause family issues violence can affect your life
YAKIMA VALLEY GANG VIOLENCE PREVENTION 9
Eighth grade most common responses on who they will talk to about
gangs
n=148
Family, parents, relatives and siblings 94
Friends 32
Adults, teachers, trusted adults 10
Others 6
No one 6
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Next steps
For the 2023-2025 biennium budget, the Legislature appropriated $375,000 each year to the Youth Gang
Violence Intervention Program for NCEC/KDNA to continue to coordinate gang violence prevention consortium
activities with entities, including community-based organizations, law enforcement, and members of the faith
community. NCEC/KDNA plans to expand after-school activities and referrals to social services for students
and young adults in the Yakima Valley. Social services may include referrals to employment, mental health
care, tutoring, and basic needs services. NCEC/KDNA will continue to operate a Spanish-language public radio
station with the mission of addressing the social, educational, and health needs of economically
disadvantaged Spanish-speaking residents of Central and Eastern Washington.
YAKIMA VALLEY GANG VIOLENCE PREVENTION 10
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