Combating Juvenile Crime and the Drug Crisis in Our Community

This week, I met with law enforcement officers and school leaders in the Yakima Valley to address the causes of and discuss potential solutions to juvenile crime and the drug crisis facing our communities.

I held a roundtable with Yakima County School Resource Officers (SROs). Together, we outlined three major goals within the SRO program: to strengthen the SRO program, to make Narcan available to officers, and to make trained officers available to schools.

The current policies set in place make it challenging for SRO officers to perform their duties effectively. We're working together to make the necessary changes that will help them do their jobs.

I'm also working on legislation to secure funding for school safety since there is no dedicated fund for the SROs. Last Congress, I introduced two important pieces of legislation on this front, the School Resource Officer Act and the School Resource Officers Save Lives Act.

I sat down with Safe Yakima Valley to learn more about their youth mentoring program which works to eliminate juvenile crime.

The key to this program is to start early in middle schools connecting students with community volunteers who offer advice about making hard decisions. There are also guest speakers, activities, and events to encourage students to plan for their future.

While the program is only in its second year, more than half of the participants have better grades, improved attendance, or fewer referrals for discipline, which is incredibly heartening.

On Tuesday, I observed the Yakima County Drug Court and toured the Yakima County Juvenile Detention Center, where I learned more about the many challenges facing our youth in the Yakima Valley.

The Yakima County Drug Court focuses on individuals' drug addiction and allows community members to present to the judge their recovery progress. It gives an individual an opportunity to address their addictions and make life changes to improve themselves -- our community is stronger when we have active and contributing members.

I am working to eliminate the high crime rates in our communities and continue to provide our law enforcement with the resources they need to be effective.

Watch More About My Roundtables and Tour Here

Next Week: National School Choice Week

National School Choice Week (January 22-28) kicks off in just a few days!

In Washington state, there are a variety of school choice options for many of the 1.6 million children in our state—traditional public schools, public charter schools, public magnet schools, private schools, online academies, and homeschooling.

All families should have the choice to receive quality instruction regardless of income, zip code, or personal belief. Ensuring that parents can provide quality education for their children in a way that respects both the families and the school choices they may make is a top priority of mine. Rather than funding systems, let’s start funding students and equipping families to make their own choices.

Touring Northwest Harvest's New Yakima Distribution Center

I toured Northwest Harvest's new distribution center in Yakima this week. They do fantastic work in ensuring access to healthy food for those suffering from hunger.

Their Yakima Distribution Center serves around 65 hunger relief programs and up to 17 schools in nine central Washington counties. The 200,000-square-foot facility I toured will warehouse meat, fresh produce, and other food items that will supply food banks in Yakima and across the state.

Thanks to the great folks at Northwest Harvest for showing me around and for all the important work you do for our community!