Since the office was launched, OFSVP has distributed grant funds in communities throughout Washington state, supporting local efforts to prevent and intervene in firearm violence. Among other things, we have learned that the most effective solutions to crime and violence come from the community and that there is a tremendous appetite at the community level to engage in collaboration to keep neighborhoods and families safer. We have also learned that violence intervention and prevention efforts work best when we partner with law enforcement and other system partners.

The OFSVP grant programs respond to these lessons learned, respecting the unique needs of our communities and using intentional and coordinated investments to expand violence prevention and intervention capacity throughout the state.

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Intervention Grants

• Using state funding, OFSVP intervention grants include support for:
  • Harborview Medical Center’s hospital-based intervention program is designed to connect firearm violence victims with services. 
  • The Walk about Yakima Program, provides services to high-risk youth and adults. 
  • The City of Tacoma’s expansion of the Neighborhood and Community Services Department’s service delivery to youth and young adults.
  • Community Passageways’ service to youth and young adults in the BIPOC community at high risk for or involved in gun violence in South King County. 
  • BIPOC Apostrophe which is building strong partnerships with the cities of Federal Way, Kent and Renton sharing information related to firearms and data related to gangs and other groups involved in firearm-related crimes. 
• Funding to support community-based violence intervention services to individuals referred through the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office shots fired social network analysis of firearm violence in King County.  Programs supported include:
  • Choose 180 Freedom
  • YMCA of Greater Seattle
• To better ensure the success of the supported intervention efforts, OFSVP has contracted with researchers and consultants to provide technical assistance, training and evaluation services. Supporting organizations and services include:
  • Family-integrated transition services through the University of Washington Public Behavioral Health and Justice Policy Division
  • Evidence based reporting from and evaluations of the funded programs by the University of Washington Firearm Injury & Policy Research Program
  • Technical assistance, capacity building and coaching from Evidence Based Associates.

Prevention Grants

• Through the Healthy Youth Violence Prevention Initiative, OFSVP has provided state funding to Virginia Mason ChiFranciscian to expand their existing Pierce County violence prevention efforts into south King County through subcontracts to deliver street outreach, youth employment and pre-apprenticeship programs, case management, and behavioral health services. Virginia Mason ChiFranciscian has partnered with thirteen community-based organizations to provide services to youth/young adults.
• Through the Yakima Valley Gang Violence Project OFSVP has provided funding to the Northwest Communities Education Center and Radio KDNA to convene a consortium to develop and implement strategies for the prevention of youth gang violence  in Yakima County in the communities of Grandview, Sunnyside, Granger, Toppenish, and Wapato.
• The Community Law Enforcement Partnership program fosters community engagement through neighborhood organizing, law enforcement and community partnerships, youth mobilization, and business engagement.

Planning Grants

• Through the Healthy Youth Initiative, OFSVP has entered into grants with three community-based organizations in Pierce County (Tacoma Boat Builders), Yakima County (OIC Washington), and the City of Vancouver (Community Mediation Services). Each of these groups is leading an effort to convene a multi-disciplinary planning team to prepare a strategic action plan for future youth violence intervention and prevention programming in their communities. To encourage success, OFSVP has contracted separately with a technical assistance coach to help the planning teams work through challenges they might encounter.
• Research has shown that firearm violence is concentrated within small, identifiable social networks and the closer a person is to a victim or perpetrator of firearm violence, the more likely they are to be a victim of firearm violence themselves. Social network analysis (SNA) can allow law enforcement agencies and community partners to use the information to focus violence prevention and intervention strategies where they are needed most. King County and the City of Yakima have used these techniques to address the spread of gun violence. OFSVP has engaged a consultant, Maike and Associates, to lead a project to review the operations and outcomes of the current use of social network analysis in Washington and nationally, and to make recommendations as to how OFSVP can support and expand the use of social network analysis to reduce in firearm violence in communities across the state.

Improving the effectiveness of Washington’s protection order laws

The State Crisis Intervention Program is designed to assist state, local, and tribal efforts to prevent or reduce crime and violence, with a particular focus on gun violence and the implementation of extreme risk protection orders in particular. This federal opportunity provides our state with a timely and badly needed opportunity to improve on current efforts to mitigate firearm-related risks through improved use of court orders that prohibit firearm possession by individuals who present a heightened risk of harm. Learn more about the implementation of this program in Washington here.