The Washington state Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) has transferred 43 “young people” with adult sentences to the Department of Corrections (DOC) as DCYF looks to reduce the facility’s population amid rising safety concerns.
According to DCYF, Gov. Jay Inslee also authorized the agency to “immediately” begin considering options for a “small, medium security facility that will serve young people with greater behavioral and mental health needs in a more appropriate way.”
There is no timeline for the new facility to open.
“This decision was not made lightly, but the security risks related to overcrowded facilities have made our current situation untenable,” DCYF Secretary Ross Hunter said in a statement Friday. “We have to prioritize the safety of young people and staff, and that it is safer for everyone when we have capacity levels that promote rehabilitation.”
The transfer of residents comes after DCYF announced last week it had suspended entries into the facility as it seeks to reach “sustainable levels” of population. On Friday, DCYF said the suspension would continue “until it reaches safe and sustainable population levels.”
The move came five years after the passage of JR to 25, which allows some offenders to serve their sentences in juvenile rehabilitation even after they become adults, took effect.
According to DCYF, the transferred residents were all males over 21 with an adult sentence beyond their 25th birthday who would have eventually been transferred to the DOC.
“We made this call to protect our staff, community, and the young people we serve, and this was the most equitable way to do it,” Hunter said. “We considered all our options and had to take action to address unsustainable conditions on campus.”
Before the transfer, Green Hill housed 236 residents, above the 180 the facility considers “best practice.”
Hunter previously notified juvenile, adult and tribal courts across Washington in a letter that DCYF would suspend intakes at Green Hill and Echo Glen Children’s Center in Snoqualmie. While the move does not mean current inmates will be released, Hunter wrote that it came after a “spike in population” caused a “deteriorating and dangerous situation” at the facilities.
Instead of being sent to either Green Hill or Echo Glen, newly sentenced offenders will remain in custody at county facilities, according to DCYF, with the department providing financial support.
In a statement last week, Steven D. Strachan, the executive director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, said the arrangement was “wholly unacceptable.”
DCYF is preparing legislative proposals to amend the state’s JR to 25 program, which took effect in June 2019 and was billed as an avenue to reduce recidivism by Inslee.
Reporters from The Chronicle will sit down with representatives from DCYF on Friday afternoon to discuss the transfer and the potential new facility.
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