Opinion
Preventing Youth Gang Activity
“Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now”
B ernie F oster
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Reporters
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2015
MERIT
AWARDS
WINNER
The Skanner has received 20 NNPA awards since 1998
The Skanner Newspaper, es-
tablished in October 1975, is a
weekly publication, published each
Wednesday by IMM Publications
Inc.
415 N. Killingsworth St.
P.O. Box 5455
Portland, OR 97228
Telephone (503) 285-5555
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By Representative Eric
Pettigrew and Senator Joe
Fain
C
riminal street gangs are a
serious burden in Central
and South King County.
Gang violence is not a new phe-
nomenon and needs to be ad-
dressed. The most fertile ground
for the spread of gangs is the
hearts and minds of our youth. At
a young age, our most vulnerable
children are making decisions that
could lead them to a lifetime of
violence and criminal behavior. In
order to address the problem, we
must look to prevention and early
interventions.
Gangs recruit using the need for
belonging and guidance, thriving
on a lack of social structure and
support in children’s lives. They
give young men and women a
sense of identity and a feeling of
power, however false it may be.
Research shows the most vul-
nerable children are from com-
munities of color, in high poverty
areas, and surrounded by violence
or substance abuse. The symptoms
of gang activity are crime, but the
illness is social and must be cured
as a community.
A diverse coalition of state, city,
law enforcement and local lead-
ers came together around a plan
of action to make prevention and
early intervention a priority in this
year’s budget. With their support
and guidance we secured $1 mil-
lion for gang intervention targeted
at vulnerable youth, garnering the
backing needed in the House and
Senate to make it a reality.
This investment builds on work
that started in 2012 to provide
gang intervention grant funding
to organizations with a success-
ful and proven record of strik-
ing at the roots of gang activity.
Street outreach workers who do
the difficult work of intervention
need reliable funding to maintain
a sustained effort to combat the
growth in gang activity. Grant ap-
plications for these services have
soared across the state, exceeding
the amount of available funding
and leaving some communities
without any meaningful support.
There are more than 12,000
documented gang members in
King County alone with ongoing
gang activity in Yakima, Tacoma/
Pierce County, Spokane, Sno-
homish County, and southwest
Washington. The continuing in-
vestments we make this year are
targeted to cut off the supply of
young people being drawn into the
gangs through proven intervention
and outreach.
Research by the Washington
Institute for Public Policy shows
Washington Representative
Eric Pettigrew
Washington Senator
Joe Fain
caped from gangs themselves, the
program meets youth where they
are at and builds a positive social
structure for them to find their way
to success.
With the support of South King
County police agencies, including
Kent and Renton, and a $200,000
Those are the kind of results we
need.
Once a child is absorbed into
gang culture there is a huge social
cost that extends well beyond that
individual: lost instructional time,
medical care, and incarceration
costs add up quickly.
A dollar spent keeping a child
out of a gang is many dollars
gained in reduced crime, healthier
families and more successful stu-
dents.
More important than cost sav-
ings is the immeasurable benefit
that both society and the individ-
ual receives from ending violence
and strengthening families.
The end of gangs begins with
the rescue and protection of vul-
nerable youth. By focusing on
curing the illness of gang activity
we have a chance to stop its spread
and give youth the hope and future
they deserve. And that is worth ev-
ery penny.
Once a child is absorbed into gang
culture, there is a huge social cost that
extends well beyond that individual
that “youth who spend their free-
time in pro-social and constructive
activities are at lesser risk of vio-
lence.”
The model for success in these
efforts is the Alive and Free pro-
gram operated by the YMCA of
Greater Seattle. Based on a suc-
cessful program transported from
Los Angeles by Seahawks coach
Pete Carroll, Alive and Free pur-
sues the hearts and minds of youth
and empowers them to take con-
trol of their individual destinies.
By employing street outreach
workers, many of whom have es-
investment from the state, Alive
and Free has been working with
as many as 85 youth a month to
steer them towards positive social
experiences and away from gangs.
In South King County they serve
children as young as 12 and up
to 18 years old, three-quarters of
which already have gang affilia-
tion. Over half are failing one or
more classes at school and have
prior involvement in the juvenile
justice system.
Alive and Free boasts a 92 per-
cent graduation rate among the
young people they have served.
Representative Eric Pettigrew
represents Seattle and serves as
the House Democratic Caucus
Chair. Senator Joe Fain rep-
resents South King County and
serves on the board for Auburn
Youth Resources.
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Oregon Secretary of State Honors 50th
Anniversary of the 1965 Voting Rights Act
O
regon Secretary of State
Jeanne P. Atkins invites
Oregonians to join her in
commemorating today as the 50th
anniversary of the Voting Rights
Act, signed into law by President
Lyndon B. Johnson on August 6,
1965.
The Act outlawed discriminato-
ry voting practices, such as litera-
cy tests and poll taxes, which were
adopted after the Civil War to pre-
vent African-Americans from reg-
istering and exercising their right
to vote.
It also established new legal pro-
tections for minority voters at the
polls.
“At a time when politicians in
many states around the country
are acting to suppress the voting
rights of minorities, youth and the
disadvantaged, Oregon stands out
as a beacon of inclusiveness and
fairness,” Atkins said.
“We are working to make it even
easier for Oregonians to become
voters and cast their ballots.”
Oregon has a long-standing
tradition of ensuring voting is ac-
Page 2 August 12, 2015 The Portland and Seattle Skanner
cessible, convenient, and secure.
In 1998, Oregon led the nation
with Vote-by-Mail system for all
elections and became the national
model for making voting as acces-
sible as possible.
“Once again we are leading the
nation with the Oregon Motor Vot-
er Act” Atkins said.
“This program will make it eas-
ier for every eligible Oregon citi-
zen to be registered to vote
As it was 50 years ago, and as it
firmly and irrevocably possess the
right to vote I do not possess my-
self. I cannot make up my mind—
it is made up for me. I cannot live
as a democratic citizen, observing
the laws I have helped to enact—I
can only submit to the edict of oth-
ers.”
To learn more about registering
to vote and casting a ballot in Ore-
gon, visit OregonVotes.gov.
The Secretary is Oregon’s chief
‘The fate of our democracy depends
on preserving and upholding access
to the ballot’
has been since the founding of our
nation, “the fate of our democ-
racy depends on preserving and
upholding access to the ballot,”
Atkins said.
In the words of Dr. Martin Lu-
ther King, “So long as I do not
elections officer, auditor and ar-
chivist.
Additionally, the Secretary of
State promotes job growth by
streamlinin g the creation and ex-
pansion of business, authenticates
documents for travel or study
Jeanne P. Atkins, Oregon
Secretary of State
abroad, and offers notary training
and listings.
Oregon is the only state where
the secretary of state is responsi-
ble for auditing public spending.
In addition, the secretary serves
with the governor and treasurer
on the Land Board and manages
and oversees Oregon’s Common
School Fund.