As more research emerges surrounding the ramifications of youth incarceration, the search for alternatives has become increasingly relevant. Last August, the King County Council unanimously voted to keep King County’s juvenile detention center, the Patricia H. Clark Center for Children and Family Justice, open, changing the original 2025 closure goal.
The reassessment of the closure date is partially due to the Advisory Committee’s struggle to reach a consensus on their strategic planning report. Rhea Yo, a member of the King County Advisory Committee and executive director of Legal Counsel for Youth and Children, acknowledged that “there was a contingency of folks, including myself, who said that those respite and receiving centers should not be locked facilities, while others said that you have to have some locked rooms.”
Yo acknowledged the concerns surrounding community safety, but highlighted that there are other ways to maintain safety that avoid the consequences of detaining youth. One option is that “while awaiting trial, there would still be electronic monitoring available, and there would be community resources available.” Yo called attention to the fact that “most young people in detention have not yet been found guilty of a crime,” so starting with less extreme safety measures, like ankle monitors and regular check ins, could help avoid the ramifications of youth incarceration. While awaiting trial, “we should have them be in community,” Yo said.
Despite disagreement, the Advisory Committee was able to come to a consensus on the majority of their proposed resolutions. In their strategic planning report, they recommended that King County increase and enhance support for families of youth in the juvenile detention system, strengthen community infrastructure, and create and oversee “a network of diverse community care homes where youth would stay while their court case proceeds,” Yo said.
Yo emphasized that, despite disagreement on locking facilities, the Advisory Committee as a whole agreed that decreasing youth incarceration is an important goal. Yo stated “incarceration and being in detention only leads to worse outcomes for youth.” The potential respite and receiving center would have additional mental, behavioral, and general health resources, as well as crisis support. The new center would also work with programs in the community, like Community Passageways and Progress Pushers, who work to help youth in the juvenile detention system reintegrate into their communities.
Knowing the harms of detaining youth, the need for a change is clear. “It can be hard to imagine not utilizing incarceration as a way to punish and ‘restore’ people, but we have to because it doesn’t work,” Yo insisted. “Let’s think of ways to have restorative justice that are different than just locking someone up.”
