Final month, the Metropolitan King County Council’s Regulation & Justice Committee spent two hours debating a symbolic movement sponsored by Councilmember Reagan Dunn that may 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 beneficial time — each theirs and that of the group members who confirmed as much as register almost unanimous opposition to the movement throughout public remark — the committee members punted on the problem till some future date.
We’d like extra from our policymakers — we want them to articulate a transparent set of ideas and plans that can cut back the variety of youth in jail and be sure that those that stay have entry to programming and companies.
The research on youth incarceration is evident: Locking up a baby solely makes it extra seemingly that the youth will reoffend, making our total group 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’ll by no means efficiently arrest our technique to security.
What does work? Neighborhood-based applications that present relatable mentoring, perceive trauma, promote a way of belonging and instill a way of function. That is the place the analysis shines. But, we appear to be caught in a “Groundhog Day” method in our county. As an alternative of wordsmithing the textual content of a movement that won’t change the truth of youth incarceration for years to return, the council ought to deal with the disaster taking place on the youth jail proper now.
As a result of the county is jailing extra younger folks than their workers 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 regulation in opposition to solitary confinement. And within the final week, King County’s presiding decide, the top 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 Faculty academics working within the youth jail “expressed dismay on the variety of detained youth who seem like very low-functioning, have critical trauma and psychological well being points and/or who haven’t attended college because the college system shut down because of the pandemic.” The academics 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 academics estimated that as much as two-thirds of the detained youth undergo from an emotional conduct incapacity or emotional disturbance.”
We all know incarceration stunts the psychological maturation course of that allows younger folks to manage their impulses, think about the results of their actions, and resist peer strain. To rehabilitate youth, which is the said function of the youth authorized system, we should put money into applications that perceive younger folks’s capability and desires.
Essentially the most fast motion we want from this council is a cap on the variety of youths incarcerated at any given time, in order that the youngsters in county custody should not denied the programming and companies they want resulting from staffing points. The state’s juvenile prisons simply halted new intakes resulting from overcrowding and the ensuing issues of safety for employees and incarcerated youth; the time for King County to enact a plan to keep away from the same disaster is now.
If we’re really concerned about system-involved youth with out entry to counseling, education and vocational programming to arrange them for a secure 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 in poor health.
We’d like the council to take motion, not subject “statements of intent.” All of those youth will ultimately get launched. Whereas we work to shut the youth jail in 2028, we should additionally deal with lowering the variety of youth who’re at the moment incarcerated. And, for individuals who stay incarcerated, we should be sure that these traumatized youth have strong entry to wanted programming and companies.