Ross Hunter in 2012, when he was a state lawmaker. (House Democrats)
Washington’s state advisory board on juvenile justice has called on Gov. Jay Inslee to fire Department of Children, Youth and Families director Ross Hunter amid the agency’s decision to suspend intakes at two state juvenile detention facilities due to overcrowding.
In a press release, the Washington State Partnership Council on Juvenile Justice attributed its decision to “escalating mismanagement of the Department of Children, Youth and Families that has led to the current crisis, eroded trust in the agency, and caused profound harm to the children and youth in its care.”
The Wednesday letter to Inslee also asks for a public apology from the governor and department leadership over the agency’s July 12 decision to transfer 43 young men between the ages of 21 to 25 from Green Hill School in Chehalis, one of the state’s juvenile detention facilities, to adult prison.
The state advisory board called the decision — which was reversed by a Thurston County Superior Court judge after the men were already transferred — an “egregious violation of rights.”
“It is our responsibility to recognize the failure of DCYF leadership and recommend that Secretary Ross Hunter be removed from his role as the agency head,” the state advisory board’s letter to Inslee reads. “We urgently request a meeting with you to discuss this matter and the Partnership Council’s position.”
The letter is the latest in a series of critiques of Ross Hunter’s leadership, including recent calls for his resignation from two Washington lawmakers — one of whom, Democratic Rep. Mari Leavitt of University Place, is on the state advisory board. The board’s membership also includes Democratic Sen. Noel Frame of Seattle and leaders from Washington’s courts, counties and advocacy groups.
Inslee said several hours after the letter was sent on Wednesday that he had not seen it and he did not respond to the council’s call for Hunter’s removal. He said he’s “focused on responding to this massive tsunami” of people sentenced to juvenile detention.
There’s been a 60% increase in young people sentenced this year compared to 2023, according to the governor’s office. Green Hill is currently 60 people over capacity at 240 residents, according to the Department of Children, Youth and Families.
“I’m focused on helping the department build capacity as rapidly as possible so we can provide these services to these folks,” Inslee said at an event to celebrate Washington’s Paid Family Leave program. He walked away before the Standard could finish asking him whether Hunter should continue to be the department’s director.
Gordon McHenry, Jr., chair of the juvenile justice council, said he’s hopeful the governor will listen to the concerns in the letter.
“I think there’s opportunity with the governor and whomever he entrusts or partners with — in terms of DCYF leadership — to make sure that this situation is addressed, redressed, and that we don’t have a repeat,” McHenry said. “We need systems that don’t fail the youth, and we need to make sure that beyond … lessons learned, that we strengthen existing systems, and we have confidence we can do that.”
The Department of Children, Youth and Families did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but told the Standard on July 26 that the department is focused on “ensuring the safety of the young people we serve and the staff who serve them.”
‘Kindling in the fire of injustice’
Young adults are allowed to reside at Green Hill under a 2018 law often called “JR to 25” or “Juvenile Rehabilitation to 25,” which allows young people sentenced in adult court for crimes committed under age 18 to stay in juvenile detention until they turn 25. If sentenced after age 18, young people who committed crimes as a minor can also still go to juvenile detention.
When Inslee signed JR to 25, Washington was considered a national leader in juvenile justice reform. The legislation was meant to align with research showing youth transferred to adult prisons were more likely to reoffend after their release than those who remain in the juvenile system.
“We ask that you not allow for JR to 25 – one of the most progressive pieces of legislation that has crossed your desk and been affirmed by your signature – to become kindling in the fire of injustice,” the letter reads.
Youth at Green Hill feel “betrayed” by the department’s actions, and at least one “has been illegally transferred” between Green Hill and adult prison twice, according to the letter. Green Hill youth also lost belongings due to the transfer and some were enrolled in education and other programming, according to the letter, which calls on the department to reinstate enrollment and any privileges the transferred youth will lose due to a “waiting period.”
In statements provided from the transferred men by the partnership council, they express feeling unsafe at Green Hill and traumatized by the transfer.
“It feels like a broken promise, someone you thought believed in you destroying your progress,” one young man said. “You have to be mentally ready for prison and the effects of being stripped out of due process hurts. I had a plan just as others who have been there did.”
In the letter, the state advisory board alleges that the agency’s leadership failed to address understaffing, overcrowding, poor conditions and criticizes the agency’s “delayed implementation” of 2021 legislation that allows eligible youth to serve the last 18 months of their sentence outside of a juvenile detention facility while wearing an electronic monitoring device.
The board is also asking Inslee to create an advisory board to select interim leadership and commit to a “detailed plan” to fix the system’s short-term and long-term problems.
Mounting frustrations with Hunter’s leadership
The partnership council joins a chorus of frustrations with the Department of Children, Youth and Families’ leadership, including from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs and the Washington Association of Counties, which is expected to file a lawsuit against the intake suspension in the coming days.
A July 11 letter from the Superior Court Judges’ Association and the Washington Association of Juvenile Court Administrators said it was “unacceptable” that the department decided to suspend intakes without consulting or providing “prior advanced notice” to superior court judges. The judges’ association also said the decision to suspend intakes would result in “significant and potentially harmful consequences” and the “current crisis was foreseeable and preventable.”
In a July 19 response, Hunter apologized for the lack of advance notice and said the level of overcrowding at Green Hill “resulted in numerous large scale fights, contraband introduction, extended lockdowns due to inadequate staff ratios, lack of programming and an inability to deliver on the core rehabilitative and therapeutic mission of the facility.”
“In hindsight, the actions I took were too abrupt and I did not adequately consider the entire juvenile justice system as a whole,” Hunter wrote. “I made optimization decisions that only considered the impact of the part of the system that I manage.”
“I do not intend to recreate the same problem at Echo Glen,” he added, referring to the state’s other juvenile detention facility, which houses boys aged 11 to 17 and girls and women from 12 to 25.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with the correct spelling of Gordon McHenry, Jr.’s name.
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