Ellensburg police outline Handle With Care youth-referral program and new graffiti-abatement partnership

Ellensburg Police Department representatives on March 3 told the City Council at a study session that two community- focused programs — a Handle With Care youth-referral system and a graffiti-abatement partnership — are operating now and will expand across Kittitas County.

The Handle With Care program flags incidents in which law enforcement or other first responders have contact with a household that includes a child, notifies the child’s school security staff and offers an automatic referral to the CWU Community Clinic for children ages 12–17. “We recognize that we’re not gonna be able to arrest our way out of crime,” Ellensburg Police Chief Ken Wade told the council, framing the programs as preventive alternatives to enforcement.

Dr. Carr, an analyst with the Ellensburg Police Department who presented the program details, said officers enter a simple code into department records when a child is involved. Those entries are compiled daily and matched to school and guardian contact information so the clinic can offer no-cost mental health support. “When it comes to the amount of cost for that program, which so far has been 0, no cost at all other than just our time,” Dr. Carr said, describing the current resource impact…