Fighting Crime By Preventing Child Abuse
Fighting gang problem remains top priority of Yakima city leaders
Drive-by shootings and other crimes continue to be big problems in the Yakima Valley.
Now police say one way to fight back starts at home, by preventing child abuse.
Police say the abuse and neglect of children may steer them towards criminal behavior as adults.
The Yakima county sheriff and other chiefs of police say research shows 67-hundred kids in Washington state were abused in 2008.
250 of them may grow up to be criminals.
Police say preventing child abuse may help.
Nurses visit with first time parents to teach them how to raise children without abuse or neglect.
"A child who is introduced to a lot of domestic violence in the home is going to greatly affect how they respond to challenges and stressors in their life," says nurse Teresa White.
White says some of the parents she works were also abused when they were young.
She believes they don't want to repeat the abusive mistakes their parents made with them.
There are at least three nurse-family partnership programs in Yakima county.
Police are calling on Washington lawmakers to maintain funding for these programs statewide.
Agencies are hoping to get federal help as well.