(1) Whenever any child under the age of eighteen is convicted as an adult in the courts of this state of a crime amounting to a felony, and is committed for a term of confinement, that child shall be initially placed in a facility operated by the department of corrections to determine the child's earned release date.

(a) If the earned release date is prior to the child's twenty-first birthday, the department of corrections shall transfer the child to the custody of the department of social and health services, or to such other institution as is now, or may hereafter be authorized by law to receive such child, until such time as the child completes the ordered term of confinement or arrives at the age of twenty-one years.

(i) While in the custody of the department of social and health services, the child must have the same treatment, housing options, transfer, and access to program resources as any other child committed directly to that juvenile correctional facility or institution pursuant to chapter 13.40 RCW. Treatment, placement, and program decisions shall be at the sole discretion of the department of social and health services. The youth shall only be transferred back to the custody of the department of corrections with the approval of the department of social and health services or when the child reaches the age of twenty-one.

(ii) If the child's sentence includes a term of community custody, the department of social and health services shall not release the child to community custody until the department of corrections has approved the child's release plan pursuant to RCW 9.94A.729(5)(b). If a child is held past his or her earned release date pending release plan approval, the department of social and health services shall retain custody until a plan is approved or the child completes the ordered term of confinement prior to age twenty-one.

(iii) If the department of social and health services determines that retaining custody of the child presents a safety risk, the child may be returned to the custody of the department of corrections.

(b) If the child's earned release date is on or after the child's twenty-first birthday, the department of corrections shall, with the consent of the secretary of social and health services, transfer the child to a facility or institution operated by the department of social and health services. Despite the transfer, the department of corrections retains authority over custody decisions and must approve any leave from the facility. When the child turns age twenty-one, he or she must be transferred back to the department of corrections. The department of social and health services has all routine and day-to-day operations authority for the child while in its custody.

(2)(a) Except as provided in (b) and (c) of this subsection, an offender under the age of eighteen who is convicted in adult criminal court and who is committed to a term of confinement at the department of corrections must be placed in a housing unit, or a portion of a housing unit, that is separated from offenders eighteen years of age or older, until the offender reaches the age of eighteen.

(b) An offender who reaches eighteen years of age may remain in a housing unit for offenders under the age of eighteen if the secretary of corrections determines that: (i) The offender's needs and the correctional goals for the offender could continue to be better met by the programs and housing environment that is separate from offenders eighteen years of age and older; and (ii) the programs or housing environment for offenders under the age of eighteen will not be substantially affected by the continued placement of the offender in that environment. The offender may remain placed in a housing unit for offenders under the age of eighteen until such time as the secretary of corrections determines that the offender's needs and correctional goals are no longer better met in that environment but in no case past the offender's twenty-first birthday.

(c) An offender under the age of eighteen may be housed in an intensive management unit or administrative segregation unit containing offenders eighteen years of age or older if it is necessary for the safety or security of the offender or staff. In these cases, the offender must be kept physically separate from other offenders at all times.

[2015 c 156 § 2; 2002 c 171 § 1; 1997 c 338 § 41; 1994 c 220 § 1; 1981 c 136 § 74; 1979 c 141 § 166; 1959 c 140 § 1.]

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