Citizens For Safe Yakima Valley Communities

SAFE YAKIMA PARTNERSHIPS FOR SUCCESS - THE SAFE YAKIMA PARTNERSHIPS FOR SUCCESS (PFS) PROJECT IS TARGETING ALL RESIDENTS OF YAKIMA COUNTY. REGARDING HOW THE PROJECT WILL SERVE A PRIORITY POPULATION, CURRENT POPULATION ESTIMATES THE YAKIMA COUNTY AT 255,151 RESIDENTS OF WHOM 50.6% IDENTIFY AS HISPANIC/LATINO. THE YAKIMA PROJECT PLACES AN EMPHASIS ON HISPANIC/LATINO YOUTH DUE TO THE SIGNIFICANT REPRESENTATION IN COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICTS. CURRENT (2022/23) ENROLLMENT NUMBERS AMONG THE 12 SCHOOL DISTRICTS COUNTYWIDE INCLUDE 68.1% HISPANIC/LATINO, 25.7% NON-HISPANIC WHITE, 3% AMERICAN INDIAN, 0.6% BLACK AND 5.6% TWO OR MORE RACES COMBINED; 25% OF ALL STUDENTS COUNTYWIDE ARE ENGLISH [SECOND] LANGUAGE LEARNERS. (WA OSPI, 2023.) CITIZENS FOR SAFE YAKIMA VALLEY COMMUNITIES, INC. (LEAD AGENCY) WITH A GREAT DEAL OF SUPPORT FROM OUR PARTNERS, WILL FACILITATE IMPLEMENTATION OF EACH COMPONENT OF THE SPF (ASSESSMENT, CAPACITY, PLANNING, IMPLEMENTATION, AND EVALUATION) ENSURING A HIGH DEGREE OF CULTURAL COMPETENCE AND PROBABILITY FOR SUSTAINABILITY. THE ASSESSMENT STEP WILL BEGIN WITH UPDATING THE EXISTING YAKIMA COUNTY EPIDEMIOLOGY (EPI) PROFILE WITHIN THE FIRST 90 DAYS ALONG WITH A BEHAVIORAL HEALTH DISPARITIES IMPACT STATEMENT. THE UPDATED EPI PROFILE WILL PROVIDE MORE COMPLETE INFORMATION ON THE ORIGIN AND EFFECT OF SUBSTANCE MISUSE, ADDICTION, AND RECOVERY IN YAKIMA COUNTY. IN ADDITION, THE PROJECT WILL ENGAGE YAKIMA COUNTY YOUTH IN GEO-MAPPING (PLOTTING) AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCANS (LOCAL CONDITION) TO IDENTIFY ROOT CAUSES OF ALCOHOL, MARIJUANA, AND OPIOID USE/ABUSE. THIS NEW INFORMATION WILL BE USED TO STRENGTHEN PREVENTION CAPACITY, BUILD INFRASTRUCTURE, AND LEVERAGE OTHER FUNDING STREAMS AND RESOURCES USING COORDINATED OUTREACH AND MESSAGING STRATEGIES. THE AIM OF SAFE YAKIMA PFS IS TO EXPAND OUR PREVENTION INFRASTRUCTURE FOR DELIVERING PREVENTION PROGRAMS AND STRATEGIES TARGETING YOUTH AND ADULTS TO ACHIEVE THE FOLLOWING GOALS: GOAL 1: STRENGTHEN PREVENTION CAPACITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL, AND GOAL 2: REDUCE YOUTH AND ADULT SUBSTANCE USE AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE-RELATED PROBLEMS. THE SAFE YAKIMA PFS STRATEGY INCORPORATES CONSISTENT AND CONTINUOUS MESSAGING INTERFACED WITH COMMUNITY-WIDE PREVENTION PROGRAMMING AND BEHAVIOR REINFORCEMENT STRATEGIES (I.E., WRISTBANDS, KEYCHAINS, PENS, ETC.). OUR INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY EXPANDS AN EXISTING MIX OF ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGIES TARGETING YAKIMA COUNTY CHILDREN AND YOUTH BETWEEN THE AGES OF 9 AND 20 YEARS OF AGE, PARENTS OF SCHOOL-AGED YOUTH, YOUNG ADULTS AGED 21 TO 35, AND THE BROADER HISPANIC/LATINO COMMUNITY.

THE 2021 WASHINGTON STATE HEALTHY YOUTH SURVEY INDICATES THAT YAKIMA COUNTY YOUTH USE ALCOHOL AND MARIJUANA AT HIGHER RATES THAN STATEWIDE COUNTERPARTS (21% V. 18%) CONSTITUTING A 61.5% INCREASE OVER A THREE-YEAR PERIOD. WE CAN EXPECT THAT, WITHOUT PREVENTATIVE ACTIONS SUCH AS MENTORING, SUBSTANCE USE RATES WILL RISE FURTHER. SAFE YAKIMA VALLEYS YOUTH MENTORING PROGRAM WILL MITIGATE THE HARMFUL IMPACT OF INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY SUBSTANCE MISUSE. THE GOAL OF THE MENTORING PROGRAM IS TO ENGAGE 300 YOUTH AGED 10 TO 17 RECEIVING TREATMENT FOR ANY SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER (SUD) OR ARE THE CHILDREN OF PARENTS IN AN SUD TREATMENT PROGRAM IN A MENTORING EXPERIENCE. MENTORING CONSISTS OF 39 MATCH CONTACT HOURS, 10 HOURS OF DRUG-PREVENTION TRAINING USING KEEPIN IT REAL CURRICULUM, AND 18 HOURS OF FAMILY ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES OVER A 12-MONTH PROGRAM PERIOD. THE PROJECT INCLUDES MENTORING PROGRAM MODIFICATIONS INCORPORATING BEST PRACTICES DEFINED IN THE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE PRACTICE FOR MENTORING (4TH EDITION) TO BETTER EQUIP THE PROGRAM TO EXPAND AND MATCH 300 NEW YOUTH WITH ADULT MENTORS. THE TARGET POPULATION FOR THE SAFE YAKIMA YOUTH MENTORING PROGRAM ARE YOUTH BETWEEN THE AGES OF 10 TO 17 YEARS AT THE TIME OF ENTRY AND WHO MEET ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA: 1) ENROLLED IN OR ON THE WAITLIST FOR A DRUG TREATMENT PROGRAM, 2) UTILIZED THE YAKIMA COUNTY NEEDLE EXCHANGE SERVICE, 3) CHILDREN OF PARENTS WHO ARE ENROLLED IN OR ON THE WAITLIST FOR A DRUG TREATMENT PROGRAM, 4) CHILDREN OF PARENTS WHO UTILIZED THE YAKIMA COUNTY NEEDLE EXCHANGE SERVICE, AND 5) YOUTH DETERMINED TO BE AT AN ELEVATED RISK FOR SUBSTANCE MISUSE BASED ON RESULTS OF EITHER THE WASHINGTON ASSESSMENT OF RISK AND NEEDS SURVEY (WARNS), THE ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES QUESTIONNAIRE (ACES), OR THE WASHINGTON STATE HYS. SIX PROGRAM OBJECTIVES WILL BE TRACKED: 1) EXPAND AND ENHANCE SAFE YAKIMA YOUTH MENTORING PROGRAM WITH ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE PRACTICE FOR MENTORING, 2) DEVELOP 300 POSITIVE ADULT ROLE MODELS WITH A HIGH DEGREE OF MENTOR COMPETENCY DERIVED THROUGH SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF MENTOR TRAINING, 3) PROVIDE SUBSTANCE MISUSE AWARENESS TRAINING TO 300 ADULT MENTORS, 4) INITIATE DIRECT ONE-ON-ONE MENTORING FOR 300 TARGET YOUTH FOR A MINIMUM OF 39 CONTACT HOURS OVER A 12-MONTH MINIMUM MATCH PERIOD, 5) PROVIDE 10 HOURS OF KEEPIN IT REAL DRUG-PREVENTION TRAINING TO 300 TARGET YOUTH, AND 6) PROVIDE 18, TWO-HOUR MENTEE FAMILY ENGAGEMENT EVENTS.NO PORTION OF THE $650,000 AWARD WILL BE USED TO CONDUCT RESEARCH.

SAFE YAKIMA VALLEY DRUG FREE ACTION TEAM

SAFE YAKIMA YOUTH MENTORING PROGRAM

SAFE YAKIMA COUNTY REACH COALITION

SYV YAKIMA COUNTY SEXUAL RISK AVOIDANCE PROGRAM (YC-SRAE)

SAFE YAKIMA STOP UNDERAGE DRINKING - SAFE YAKIMA'S DFAT STOP UNDERAGE DRINKING INITIATIVE WILL TARGET YOUTH AND YOUNG ADULTS 12 TO 20 YEARS OF AGE WITH A VARIETY OF ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGIES, PROGRAMS, AND ACTIVITIES DESIGNED TO INCREASE AWARENESS OF THE ISSUE OF YOUTH ALCOHOL USE, EDUCATE YOUTH AND ADULTS ON VIABLE TECHNIQUES FOR MAINTAINING ALCOHOL FREE LIFESTYLES, AND FACILITATING ACCESS PREVENTION, REDUCTION, AND RECOVERY RESOURCES. ALONG WITH MAINTAINING THE MOMENTUM DESCRIBE ABOVE, SAFE YAKIMA AND THE DFAT ARE CURRENTLY WORKING TO INCREASE COMMUNITY COLLABORATIONS BEYOND THE ORIGINALLY DEFINED TARGET AREA. AS WE APPROACH THE END OF OUR DFC PROGRAM SUPPORT, WE ARE LOOKING TO EXPAND OUR PARTNERSHIP BASE TO BLANKET THE GREATER YAKIMA MORE EFFECTIVELY WITH INSTITUTIONALIZED PREVENTION (I.E., POLICIES, PROGRAMMING, PRACTICES) AND MORE EFFICIENTLY APPLY THE LIMITED HUMAN AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES AT OUR DISPOSAL. THE GOAL OF THE DFAT STOP ACT PROJECT IS TO REDUCE 30-DAY ALCOHOL USE AMONG 8TH GRADE STUDENTS FROM THE 2021 BASELINE OF 5.5% TO 1% OR LESS. THE FOLLOWING ARE THE MEASURABLE OBJECTIVES BACKED BY THE ACTIVITIES LISTED IN THE STOP TIMELINE: 1) INCREASE THE NUMBER OF COMMUNITY PARTNERS COMMITTED TO THE PREVENTION AND REDUCTION OF YOUTH ALCOHOL USE FROM 12 TO 36 BY SEPTEMBER 29, 2027, 2) INCREASE THE NUMBER OF ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGIES TARGETING ALCOHOL BY 40% BY SEPTEMBER 29, 2027, 3) INCREASE PERCEIVED RISK OF HARM FROM ALCOHOL USE FROM 74.7% (GREAT RISK) TO 80% BY SEPTEMBER 29, 2027, AND 4) INCREASE PERCEIVED PEER DISAPPROVAL OF ALCOHOL USE AMONG 8TH GRADE STUDENTS FROM 78.3% (VERY WRONG) TO 95% BY SEPTEMBER 29, 2027.

SAFE YAKIMA VALLEY DRUG FREE ACTION TEAM

SAFE YAKIMA DRUG FREE ACTION TEAM