Final month, the Metropolitan King County Council’s Regulation & Justice Committee spent two hours debating a symbolic movement sponsored by Councilmember Reagan Dunn that will categorical the council’s opposition to closing the youth jail — a aim already delayed an extra three years to 2028 on the earliest. After spending useful time — each theirs and that of the neighborhood members who confirmed as much as register practically unanimous opposition to the movement throughout public remark — the committee members punted on the difficulty till some future date.
We’d like extra from our policymakers — we want them to articulate a transparent set of rules and plans that can cut back the variety of youth in jail and be certain that those that stay have entry to programming and providers.
The analysis on youth incarceration is evident: Locking up a toddler solely makes it extra seemingly that the youth will reoffend, making our total neighborhood much less protected. That is very true in these occasions when gun violence is a priority for a lot of; arresting extra youth doesn’t cut back the chance of additional gun violence. We are going to by no means efficiently arrest our approach to security.
What does work? Neighborhood-based packages that present relatable mentoring, perceive trauma, promote a way of belonging and instill a way of goal. That is the place the analysis shines. But, we appear to be caught in a “Groundhog Day” strategy in our county. As an alternative of wordsmithing the textual content of a movement that won’t change the fact of youth incarceration for years to return, the council ought to concentrate on the disaster occurring on the youth jail proper now.
As a result of the county is jailing extra younger folks than their employees can safely incarcerate, children have been locked of their cells longer than they need to be for 14 days in April and 18 days in Might. Advocates for these younger folks have repeatedly knowledgeable the council that the youth jail is violating the county’s legislation in opposition to solitary confinement. And within the final week, King County’s presiding choose, the pinnacle of the juvenile corrections officers’ guild and lead prosecutor for juvenile circumstances have all raised considerations about further overcrowding exacerbating these issues.
Furthermore, Seattle Public College lecturers working within the youth jail “expressed dismay on the variety of detained youth who seem like very low-functioning, have severe trauma and psychological well being points and/or who haven’t attended college for the reason that college system shut down as a result of pandemic.” The lecturers questioned whether or not “a lot studying is feasible for some with out different interventions.” They emphasised the necessity to “handle the numerous trauma and attendant psychological well being issues skilled by lots of the youth … the lecturers estimated that as much as two-thirds of the detained youth endure from an emotional conduct incapacity or emotional disturbance.”
We all know incarceration stunts the psychological maturation course of that permits younger folks to regulate their impulses, take into account the results of their actions, and resist peer stress. To rehabilitate youth, which is the said goal of the youth authorized system, we should put money into packages that perceive younger folks’s capability and desires.
Essentially the most quick motion we want from this council is a cap on the variety of youths incarcerated at any given time, in order that the kids in county custody aren’t denied the programming and providers they want as a consequence of staffing points. The state’s juvenile prisons simply halted new intakes as a consequence of overcrowding and the ensuing questions of safety for workers and incarcerated youth; the time for King County to enact a plan to keep away from an identical disaster is now.
If we’re really involved about system-involved youth with out entry to counseling, education and vocational programming to arrange them for a steady and productive maturity, the answer is clear: Cease locking up so many youth, particularly those that are very low-functioning or who’re significantly traumatized or mentally ailing.
We’d like the council to take motion, not subject “statements of intent.” All of those youth will finally get launched. Whereas we work to shut the youth jail in 2028, we should additionally concentrate on lowering the variety of youth who’re presently incarcerated. And, for individuals who stay incarcerated, we should be certain that these traumatized youth have sturdy entry to wanted programming and providers.
