On Tuesday, King County Executive Dow Constantine and Superior Court Presiding Judge Susan Craighead were joined by King County Councilmembers Larry Gossett, Joe McDermott and Dave Upthegrove to announce new measures to further reduce both the county’s youth detention population and the unacceptable racial disparities growing within it.
“Racial disparity has no place in our justice system here in King County, especially not in systems responsible for the well-being of our youth,” said Constantine. “That’s why I am taking an aggressive approach to further limit the use of detention for young people. Confronting the causes of racial disparity – in criminal justice and throughout society – will require the partnership of everyone in the community, and we are ready to work with anyone who is willing to work with us.”
The actions signal a paradigm shift in management of the County’s juvenile-justice system toward restorative justice, a move initiated by the Superior Court bench. In a letter to the Seattle City Council, County leaders wrote, “We commit to ending disproportionality in the juvenile justice system. We commit to decriminalizing homelessness and mental illness. We commit to partnering with our schools and our communities to provide all youth with more options and opportunities.”
“We share these goals, and recognize we need to think of how to create more alternatives to detention,” said Craighead. “Superior Court commits to make every effort to avoid detention for these young people except when absolutely necessary.”
In the short term, Craighead said the court has identified two goals for reducing the number of youth in detention: 1) judges and commissioners will avoid the use of detention for status offenders, such as truants or foster-care runaways, except when their lives or safety are in danger, and 2) with proposed new investments in County programs, the bench further commits to reducing by half the use of detention for young probation violators, with a goal of reaching that 50 percent reduction within one year.
For long-term reduction in the use of detention, Constantine placed a cap of 112 on the number of juvenile detention beds at the voter-approved Children and Family Justice Center, which results in a maximum practical capacity of approximately 80. With 212 beds in the existing facility, the cap at the replacement Center will cut the number of detention beds by almost half.
Constantine said building 32 fewer beds will free up space in the replacement Center for use by non-profit agencies whose programs and services can provide further alternatives to detention, programs such as crisis intervention for homeless youth, or programs to rescue youth from gangs or sex trafficking.
Councilmembers Gossett, Upthegrove and McDermott said they are committed to funding several programs advanced by the community to shift the paradigm and reduce disproportionality in the juvenile justice system, and outlined more than $4 million in proposed funding for specific programs that will focus on:
• Support to keep kids enrolled in school,
• Classes to provide basic financial skills as well as the knowledge needed to interview for employment,
• A holistic approach for providing defense resources to youth and their families in the criminal justice system, and
• A targeted effort to expand alternatives to detention that are culturally responsive, geographically accessible and meaningful to youth.
“King County’s ‘paradigm shift’ will be guided by the premise that we will build a juvenile justice system that values all our children and decriminalizes the misbehaviors that some children experience,” said Gossett. “Part of our system must require the decriminalizing of our youth—and that involves shifting towards a Restorative and Transformative Justice model. We must provide the needed services and care to help our young people become productive human beings if our county is to live up to our namesake of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. County.”
“Addressing today’s racial disproportionality in the juvenile justice system requires a significant change in the way that we support youth in King County,” said Councilmember McDermott. “Our commitment to fund efforts that span a spectrum of activities that will aid youth in avoiding or navigating the juvenile justice system demonstrates our resolve to achieving this fundamental shift.”
