Youth Program Partners with the City of Bellingham Police Department

"We are always looking for opportunities to collaborate and engage in problem solving with our community. This is an opportunity to support critical early intervention efforts to provide our youth with positive tools to mitigate conflict. Our vision is that this support will decrease the need for law enforcement interventions with persons dealing with conflict." - Chief Doll, Bellingham Police Department

The WDRC Youth Program is thrilled about a new partnership with the City of Bellingham Police Department to ensure Bellingham schools have access to classroom conflict resolution resources!  Did you know that in addition to a rich and expansive history of training adults (including those who work with youth within community based settings) the WDRC Youth Program has extensive and proven experience providing Conflict Resolution Education (CRE) and Restorative Justice services(RJ) for at-risk youth themselves? In 2018, the WDRC served 1,786 youth in juvenile justice, elementary, middle, and high school settings. WDRC Youth Programs are informed by best practices, providing strength-based learning, validating experiences and identities, and building effective tools within an individualized context.

We have continued to see growing demand from schools, who are increasingly utilizing our trainings as part of a prevention strategy to increase their students’ self-awareness, anger-management, and problem solving skills.

Teachers and administrators requests for training for entire grade levels has increased substantially in the last four years, providing students with a common language and strategies to depend on when conflict arises. We have also continued our small group work, offering tailored small group support to a wide range of students. 

The WDRC largely relies on community contributions and grant funding to support the program. We are so pleased to partner with the Police Department to help sustain our program.