Our Programs

We believe that criminalization and ostracization are ineffective deterrents to unproductive behaviors and that the carceral system—policing, jail, and state supervision—further harms people who have already been negatively impacted by trauma.

Our work is driven by the belief that guidance and support are more effective in inspiring people to make positive choices, seeing their unlimited potential and envisioning a future where they are able to live their lives fully. 

To date, CP has worked with over 100 young people facing felony charges in the juvenile and adult criminal courts.  The legal system has recognized and commended their success at engaging and changing their trajectory. Of the cumulative nearly 200 years our clients were facing, 146 years were diverted from jail time—an overall 76% reduction in length of sentencing. The young people who have been able to stay in the community have gone on to start businesses, graduate from high school, attend college, and actively participate in changing the narrative of not only their own lives, but their communities.

Across programs, Ambassadors have been trained to draw from evidence based interventions: Multisystemic Therapy (MST), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Motivational Interviewing (MI). We strive to promote behavior change by tailoring goals to each young person while leveraging the strengths of their community to facilitate change. Programs and focus areas include:

• CP-FIT

• Deep Dive

• Community Support Team

• School-Based Programming

• Youth Leadership Opportunities

• LEAD

• Recovery Navigator Program (RNP)

• Re-Entry

• Community Safety Programs

CP-FIT

Adapted from Family Integrated Transitions, CP-FIT is a therapeutic, evidence informed home and community-based case management for youth and young adults, most of whom are 12 to 24, who are at-risk, have been involved, or are currently involved with the legal system. The program strives to promote behavior change by building on the strengths of each young person’s support network. CP-FIT Ambassadors work with families and young people to build skills and resources to promote emotional regulation, mindfulness, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness while reducing substance use and aggression.

Deep Dive

Deep Dive works with young men aged 15 to 27 who are most vulnerable to be the victim of or participate in gun violence across King County. The program includes wraparound case management; curriculum and mentorship focusing on identifying their own strengths and areas of growth; healthy conflict resolution; processing and healing from their trauma; identifying their aspirations and setting plans to achieve them; historical perspectives that have shaped their lives; financial literacy; employment support and job coaching; and legal system support as needed. 

Community Support Team

Community Support Team provides on-the-ground support, expertise, and resources to prevent, intervene, and de-escalate gun violence. They respond to shooting incidents to serve as de-escalation agents at the scene of an incident, in hospitals, and in gun violence hot spots to calm tensions that may lead to further harm. They provide or connect individuals and families directly impacted by gun violence with with mentoring, emotional support for post-traumatic stress, medical follow-up, housing, substance use treatment, and job opportunities and other support to help ensure community safety.

School-Based Programming

School-based preventative programming offers weekly healing circles, culturally relevant curriculum, and mentorship for youth, culturally responsive strategies for staff, and peacekeeping circles connecting youth and staff to better understand and humanize each other. We are currently work primarily in South Lake High School and Lakota Middle School.

YOUTH LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES 

Seeking and creating opportunities for youth to engage their leadership skills serves to both leverage and build their strengths while creating avenues for meaningful youth input. Across programs, we encourage youth and young adult engagement through mentorship and apprenticeship models of leadership development, leadership training, attendance at public forums, and public speaking opportunities through youth stipends and continuous support. 

Youth participating in CP engagements have been able to share their perspectives with leaders at every level of government and community decision-making. To date, we have sought and created opportunities for youth to have their voices heard through the Juvenile Justice and Equity Steering Committee with King County, the Seattle Office of Civil Rights, and many other opportunities. For instance, Community Passageways’ youth participation directly helped shape King County’s Road Map to Zero Youth Detention. Additionally, youth active in a school-based Healing Circles with Community Passageways have created a Black Students Union in a partnering high school. Currently, Community Passageways is serving as the backbone to a youth consortium, supported by a handful of like-minded organizations, to give youth a platform to engage in the Seattle City Council elections.  

 LEAD

The Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program is a pre-booking, community-based diversion program that was developed in Seattle, Washington. The program was designed to divert those suspected of low-level drug and prostitution offenses away from jail and prosecution and into case management, legal coordination, and other supportive services. The primary goal of LEAD is to reduce criminal recidivism. Other goals include reduction in legal and criminal-justice-service utilization and associated costs, as well as the improvement in psychosocial, housing, and quality-of-life outcomes.

 RNP

Recovery Navigator Program, provides community-based outreach, intake, assessment, and connection to services for youth and adults facing substance use disorder. Services include long-term intensive case management, recovery coaching services, connections to a broad range of community resources for youth and adults with mental, behavioral or substance use disorders. Making referrals to treatment and intensive recovery support services. Serving the Central District of Seattle as well as Burien, and the unincorporated North Highline neighborhood. 

 Re-Entry

Our re-entry program, "Not Forgotten,” serves individuals who are transitioning from incarceration into the community. Our program lead has more than two decades of firsthand incarceration experience, and thus was able to refine the skill set necessary to facilitate successful re-entry.Our approach is intrinsically informed by the needs of our community, and by bringing in this personal approach and lived experience, our re-entry team can navigate the process holistically - deeply understanding the personal and emotional impacts of incarceration, as well as assisting in processes for employment, education, stable housing, financial literacy, family reunification and cultural connection.

 Community Safety Programs

SCSI - an initiative to help build and strengthen neighborhood safety, restore and rebuild community connections, offer resources for self-sufficiency, and promote neighborhood pride and ownership. We will accomplish these objectives through 3 key components, Community Safety Hubs, Hotspot/Crisis Response & Safe Passage Team, and Training & Professional Development.

RPKC - Regional Peacekeepers Collective (RPKC) is an initiative of the Public Health - Seattle & King County Regional Gun Violence Program. This initiative supports culturally responsive BIPOC-led community organizations that provide Intervention, Prevention and Restoration services including critical incident and hospital-based response, intensive engagement and wrap-around life affirming care and resources to individuals and families most impacted by gun violence and unjust systems.