Everett To “Pivot” And “Pay” To Thwart Appeal Of Gangs

September 11, 2018

Everett Government

gang

There is a public meeting set for September 17th to raise awareness of gang issues and solutions in Everett.

When Mayor Cassie Franklin first took office one of her initial actions was to issue a directive to address the growing problem with gang activity in Everett. You can read that directive here.

The first initiative within that directive was to have a team led by the police department explore what has been successful in other communities in preventing and intervening in gang violence. Then a pilot program was to be developed and launched by May 11th. By November 9th the program’s initial results were to be evaluated and then a recommendation would be made on the future of the program.

Yesterday the city announced more details on the program.

To carry out this directive, a core-working group of City employees and community stakeholders were identified to meet and find solutions. The group determined that identifying at-risk individuals and quickly connecting them to services is critical to successful prevention and intervention of youth gang violence. The group wanted to utilize the many programs already in place but needed a framework to connect selected youth and families to providers who could help. The group also supported creating a community driven program that incentivized positive decision making and behavior.

The core-working group recommended a three-part approach:

RESOURCE GUIDE

Create a comprehensive list of the existing intervention and prevention services available within Snohomish County. The list will include all types of human services (public and private), provider information, and population groups designed for the services.

POSITIVE INTERVENTION OUTREACH TEAM FOR YOUTH
(PIVOT)
PIVOT for Youth is a newly created multi-disciplinary youth violence prevention and intervention review team that identifies individual youth who are at high risk for youth and gang violence. The team will identify specific needs, challenges, and opportunities to help at-risk youth and their families. Action plans for the youth, and their family, will be created to help support the family and direct them to resources that currently exist within the community.

PIVOT provides a mechanism for existing agencies that often share overlapping goals, to collaborate and leverage resources for the best outcome for the individuals served. PIVOT review team members are multi-disciplinary and selected for their understanding of the complex issues involved, their field of discipline, and the agency they represent. Members work in collaboration to create action plans that integrate services of stakeholder agencies. PIVOT members include the following agencies:

Child Protective Services
Denney Juvenile Justice Center
Everett Police Gang Unit Sergeant
Everett Police Youth Services Sergeant
Everett Public Schools
Mukilteo School District
Snohomish County Human Services

To be effective, stakeholders must provide services with the knowledge that each individual and family is highly specific in their needs. PIVOT review team requests will pull from many different service organizations to provide the appropriate service on a case-by-case basis. Stakeholders include, but are not limited to the following:

Boys & Girls Club
City of Everett
Cocoon House
Compass Mental Health
Hand in Hand Kids
Sea Mar Behavioral Health
Volunteers of America
Work Source of Snohomish County
YMCA

PATHWAYS FOR ADOLESCENT YOUTH
(PAY)
PAY was created to surround participants and their families with positive role models, positive opportunities to get involved with the community, and reward positive behavior through incentives, which may include public recognition, unique training opportunities or gift cards to local businesses. Similar to PIVOT, PAY relies upon strong community partners willing to come together to support youth and families that have been identified as being at greater risk for youth gang involvement. Those partners include the following:

Everett Police Department
Explorer Middle School (Mukilteo School District)
Boys and Girls Club of Snohomish County
YMCA
Hand-in-Hand
Cocoon House

Families who are identified and agree to participate in PAY will be enrolled in the nationally recognized Strengthening Families program which focuses on youth aged 10-14, and seeks to provide the family unit with information on building bridges, protecting against substance abuse, and dealing with stress and peer pressure. Families will also be assigned a mentor and given opportunities to volunteer or engage in other positive community activities.

The PIVOT and PAY programs are supported through community donations that enhance the services and support provided. Donors will receive an emailed receipt with tax identification number for tax purposes. If you’d like to donate you can do so at this link.

Community members are invited to join Mayor Cassie Franklin and Everett Police for an International Gang Awareness Day event on Monday, Sept. 17, from 6:30-8 p.m. at Explorer Middle School (9600 Sharon Dr.). Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from Mayor Franklin, Gang Resource Officer Anthony Fletcher, Andre Graham from the Boys & Girls Club and Gang Detective Jeff Nevin and ask questions about gang activity and how the community can get involved.



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My Everett News is a hyperlocal news website featuring news and events in Everett, Washington. We also cover City of Everett information and items of interest to those who live and work in Everett.

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