OLYMPIA –Rep. Luis Moscoso’s prevention and intervention measure (HB 2432) did not make the deadline to get passed out of the House as a policy bill. The freshman legislator, however, did not give up the fight and kept working until he managed to secure enough funding in the operating budget, which was just passed out of the House, to get the program started.
“Our state is facing a huge budget shortfall, so even though this is only a fraction of the funding we were hoping to get, it is a good and promising start to get the ball rolling,” said the Mountlake Terrace Democrat. “The fact is that young boys and girls are joining street gangs across our state every single day; our communities will only be safe when we really do something about slowing down – and eventually eliminating – gang recruitment.”
The budget proviso secured by Rep. Moscoso amounts to $250,000 for a grant program focused on criminal street gang prevention and intervention. The Washington State Partnership Council on Juvenile Justice will be authorized to award grants to local governments or nonprofit organizations that demonstrate they have been effective at getting and keeping kids out of gangs and off the streets.
Youth gang violence has grown significantly over the last decade and is no longer contained to large urban cities; smaller towns and rural areas are also seeing the effects of gangs in their communities. According to a study by the DSHS Research and Data Analysis Division, in 2010 there were approximately 300 street gangs in Washington, with about 15,000 members. This proliferation of street violence led Moscoso to become increasingly involved in community outreach related to this issue since he took office last year. He stands alongside a myriad of stakeholders ranging from nonprofit organizations to law enforcement agencies that all share a strong concern for our state’s escalating gang problem.
Moscoso said that law enforcement agencies are investing time and resources patrolling our streets to identify and suppress gang activity, but that “we can’t expect our police forces to handle gangs completely on their own. The best way to deal with any problem is to cut it off at the source. That’s why we need these programs to speed-up the opportunities for youth to get out of gangs effectively and safely.”
Moscoso explained that recent studies on best practices to fight street gangs have found that using oppression to keep the peace is outmoded. A suppression-only approach to prevent street gang activity is not productive because it creates an “us-versus-them” attitude that has a counter-effect by encouraging gang activity. What has proven effective are proactive measures that keep kids from joining gangs and go a step further to prevent the formation of street gangs in the first place.
“This nation stands on a platform of opportunity for all, so ensuring that all children get the chance they deserve to succeed in life is our responsibility. Education and nutrition are huge factors to this end, but so is a safe and violence-free environment where kids can focus on family, school and community instead of living in fear of gangs, guns and drug abuse,” Moscoso added.
The House budget now heads to the Senate.