Legislative Issues

Public Safety

Inslee Announces $223,538 Grant for Redmond's Friends of Youth
Funds Will Help Renovate Griffin Home in Renton

23 July 2003

U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee and Adam Smith announced today that Redmond’s Friends of Youth will receive a $223,538 Economic Development Initiative (EDI) grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Friends of Youth operates a treatment center, the Griffin Home, in Renton, WA, for severely troubled adolescent boys with a history of juvenile offenses or aggressive sexual behavior. The Griffin Home is currently in dire need of repair due to many years of wear and tear.

Said Inslee, “I am very pleased to announce federal funding for an outstanding youth rehabilitation program on the Eastside. I am very impressed with Friends of Youth treatment program for troubled boys. This program is valuable to our community because focusing efforts on potential abusers is probably one of the most effective ways to prevent sexual abuse. More importantly, the services provided by the Griffin Home are scarce, so we must do more to fund this needed treatment in order to make our communities safer. I am proud to announce this EDI grant and look forward to working in Congress to maintain and expand these valuable services.”

Inslee and Smith worked to gain support from other members of the Washington state delegation for this appropriation request. Inslee made a specific appropriation request on behalf of Friends of Youth last year, and today’s EDI grant announcement is particularly significant given the highly competitive nature of these grants and current fiscal concerns with state and federal budgets.