The City of Tacoma has been awarded a $133,000 grant from the Washington State Legislature to address citywide street gang activities.

The funds, which are part of the Criminal Street Gang Prevention and Intervention Grant Program created by the Legislature and administered over the next biennium by the Washington State Partnership Council on Juvenile Justice, will be directed toward the City of Tacoma’s Gang Project. The project was established by Tacoma City Council as a way to partner with the community in a comprehensive anti-gang approach, build capacity within the community for gang prevention and intervention, and develop a comprehensive plan of programs, strategies, and policies to reduce gang involvement of Tacoma youth.

Seattle-based Center for Children & Youth Justice and Kennewick-based FIRME Outreach were also awarded $133,00 grants.

The grants aim to assist communities in addressing criminal street gangs by helping to ensure that youth avoid gang membership and activities as well as other future criminal behavior by assisting communities in implementing the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Comprehensive Gang Model. This model is a framework for the coordination of multiple, data-driven anti-gang strategies among agencies such as law enforcement, education, criminal justice, social services, community-based agencies, outreach programs and grassroots community groups.

More information is available online at dshs.wa.gov/ojj and here.