Juvenile Justice in the State of Washington.
In Washington, juvenile courts are a division of the state's superior court system. Juvenile courts have jurisdiction over persons under the age of 18 who are alleged to have committed a crime. However, there are several exceptions to that jurisdiction where state law requires youth to be tried in adult courts.
There are three situations where adult criminal courts may have jurisdiction over persons under the age of 18:
Juvenile court dispositions are subject to statutory sentencing guidelines. Juvenile offenses are categorized using letters E through A++ to indicate the seriousness level of the offense. A statutory grid establishes the standard sentencing range for a particular offense based on the offense category and an individual's prior adjudications. Each prior felony adjudication counts as 1 point, and each prior violation, misdemeanor, or gross misdemeanor counts as 0.25 points. Fractional points are rounded down.
If a court finds that a disposition within the standard range would create a manifest injustice, the court must impose a disposition outside the standard range. The following factors may be used to form the basis for a manifest injustice finding:
The sentencing category called local sanctions is the least serious category for juvenile sentencing purposes. Local sanctions include a range of up to 30 days in confinement, up to 12 months of community service, up to 150 hours of community service, and up to a $500 fine.
When a juvenile court sentences a juvenile offender to local sanctions, the court must impose a determinate sentence within the standard range. Confinement imposed by a juvenile court up to 30 days is served in a county juvenile detention facility. Any confinement imposed that is greater than 30 days is served through commitment at a Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) juvenile rehabilitation institution.
There are two juvenile rehabilitation institutions: (1) Green Hill School in Chehalis, which serves males ages 17 through 25; and (2) Echo Glen Children's Center in Snoqualmie which serves females ages 12 through 25 and males ages 11 through 17.
Placement of Individuals Convicted in Adult Court in Juvenile Institutions.
Any person who is convicted in adult court of a felony offense that was committed when the person was under age 18 and committed for a term of confinement is initially placed in a facility operated by DCYF. While the person is placed in a DCYF facility, the person must have the same treatment, housing, transfer, and access to program resources as any other person committed to that juvenile institution.
These individuals may not be transferred to the custody of the Department of Corrections (DOC) without the approval of the DCYF until the person reaches age 25.
If the DCYF determines that retaining custody of the person in a facility of the DCYF presents a significant safety risk, the DCYF may transfer the person to the DOC.
The DCYF must review the placement of a person over age 21 to determine whether the person should be transferred to the custody of the DOC. This review must occur before the person turns age 23 if their commitment period extends beyond that age.
Settlement Agreement.
A settlement agreement between the DCYF and class members represented by Columbia Legal Services provides additional procedural requirements for the DCYF before transferring individuals convicted in adult court of offenses that occurred before turning age 18 to the DOC, including a requirement that all class members receive a residential review board hearing.
If the circumstances necessitating the transfer are so severe that the DCYF cannot ensure the safety of the facility or others while the pre-transfer hearing is pending, the DCYF may file an emergency motion before the court seeking an exception to move the class member to the DOC pending the residential review board hearing.
The residential review board consists of the Assistant Secretary of Juvenile Rehabilitation of the DCYF or a designee who acts as chairperson, and two administrators with the Juvenile Rehabilitation division of the DCYF appointed by the chair.
Community Facilities.
Community facilities allow youth to begin transitioning back to the community after being committed to a juvenile rehabilitation institution. These facilities provide treatment, education, and vocational services. To be eligible for community facility placement, a youth must be placed on minimum security status. Minimum security status is based on risk and behavior assessments and requires that the individual has served 10 percent of his or her aggregate minimum disposition or 30 days, whichever is greater, and all placement assessment requirements have been met. Individuals who escape or attempt to escape, individuals who are eligible for civil commitment, and individuals who meet other criteria are not eligible for minimum security status.
There are eight community facilities across the state including:
Safe Operational Capacity.
"Safe operational capacity" is defined as the maximum number of individuals that can reside in a juvenile rehabilitation institution in order to safely provide treatment aligned with juvenile justice standards.
The Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) must develop rules for the safe operational capacity of institutions that include developing the maximum number of people that constitute safe operating capacity.
The DCYF must take action to reduce the population at any institution if the population exceeds 105 percent of the safe operational capacity. To do so, the DCYF may:
The DCYF must monitor the number of people residing at each institution and when that number reaches 90 percent of the safe operational capacity, begin planning for methods to avoid exceeding the safe operational capacity. The planning required at this stage includes:
Individuals convicted in adult court of offenses that occurred before turning age 18 are no longer placed in a DCYF facility when the facility is at or above 105 percent of safe operational capacity and the person is over age 21 with an earned release date after the age of 26. These individuals may request a transfer to a DCYF facility when the population of the facility is below 95 percent of the safe operational capacity. The DCYF must notify county courts when the population of an institution or institutions reaches 105 percent of the safe operational capacity such that certain individuals will be placed directly in the custody of the DOC.
Transfer Provisions.
The DCYF may transfer individuals convicted in adult court of offenses that occurred before turning age 18 to the DOC if:
Review of Placement.
The DCYF must review the placement of persons age 21 or older who are placed in the custody of the DCYF to provide information to individuals regarding voluntary transfer to the custody of the DOC based on considerations of the person's treatment needs, goals, future plans, length of confinement, classification, and current behavior. This review must happen once before someone turns 21, as soon as possible following the placement of someone age 21 or older, and by request.
Reporting.
The DCYF, subject to funding provided, must submit an annual report to the Legislature and Governor with:
The substitute bill allows the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) to transfer individuals from one DCYF institution where the population exceeds 105 percent of the safe operational capacity to another DCYF institution where the population does not exceed 105 percent of the safe operating capacity.
The substitute bill requires that the DCYF notify county courts when the population of an institution or institutions reaches 90 percent of the safe operational capacity and when the population reaches 105 percent (which triggers placement of individuals convicted in adult court of offenses that occurred before turning age 18, and who are over age 21, with an earned release date after age 26 in a DOC facility instead of a DCYF facility).
The substitute bill allows individuals who are placed in a DOC facility based on the DCYF facility reaching 105 percent of safe operational capacity to request a transfer to a DCYF facility when the population of the DCYF facility is below 95 percent of the safe operational capacity.
The substitute bill specifies that individuals convicted in adult court of offenses that occur before turning age 18 who are placed in a DCYF facility must have access to counsel to review a decision to voluntarily transfer to a DOC institution and the voluntary transfer may not occur until at least one week following the person's meeting with counsel, and the person may request that a review board review the voluntary transfer decision.
The substitute bill specifies that any transfer of individuals placed in a DCYF facility who were convicted in adult court of offenses that occur before turning age 18, if the population of the institution exceeds 105 percent of the safe operational capacity, may only happen after exhausting other available transfer options and requires the DCYF to take steps to avoid the transfer of individuals for whom a transfer would disrupt substantive progress or near completion of rehabilitative, educational, or treatment goals.
The substitute bill specifies that the DCYF must review the placement of persons who will remain in the custody of the DCYF beyond age 21 to provide information to these individuals regarding voluntary transfer to the DOC based on consideration of the person's treatment needs, goals, future plans, length of confinement, classification, and current behavior and requires that this review occur at least once before the person turns age 21 (instead of before age 23) or as soon as possible following the placement of someone age 21 or older and if requested.
The substitute bill requires that, subject to funding provided, the DCYF must submit an annual report to the Legislature and Governor with:
(In support) The state is in a difficult position. The problem that this legislation attempts to tackle is managing the overcrowding and unsafe operating conditions at Green Hill School.
This bill attempts to be more responsive. There is an obligation to make sure that due process exists for these young people. It is important to determine the right population mix and rehabilitative focus. The youth who are living at Green Hill School are not able to receive the appropriate education and other services.
This bill provides some options for transferring young people to community facilities. The Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) is looking at establishing another facility.
We need to get to a solution to relieve this problem this session.
This state has reduced juvenile institution capacity. When facilities are over capacity, stress and violence rise. Young people are cycling through a system that does not help them and staff are getting injured.
This bill provides good solutions to the existing problem.
(Opposed) This state is committed to serving young people in a developmentally appropriate way. Opening a transfer of young people to DOC facilities without adequate due process and guardrails is not appropriate.
This bill would allow transfer out of one facility if it is over capacity without considering the management of all institutions to determine whether young people could be moved between facilities to maintain the safety of institutions.
The automatic transfer protocol in this bill would effectively end the "JR to 25" policy. Communities are kept safer when young people can be served in juvenile facilities rather than adult ones. Efforts should be made to improve the "JR to 25" policies.
There is a negotiated settlement agreement between individuals who were transferred to DOC facilities and the DCYF. There are some tools provided in this bill that are supported, but there is opposition to the ability to transfer young people to the DOC only based on capacity issues. Green Hill did not grow in capacity overnight. There should be a reduction in barriers to placement in community facilities and other policies to address the current issues without allowing transfer to the DOC simply based on capacity concerns.
There is opposition to unilateral transfer based on capacity. "JR to 25" prioritizes the unique capacity of young people to grow and change. Young people at Green Hill are watching these bills and are worried about their future.
This is a system problem and a result of mismanagement of this agency. Individuals were improperly transferred to the DOC last year. The DCYF was aware of this issue based on increased population and understaffing. The DCYF Secretary acknowledged this issue. The older population at Green Hill are not the problem. The older population are mentors and providing good examples for the younger people at Green Hill.
A false narrative has been spread about the DCYF and this issue. This narrative has harmed the people who "JR to 25" was meant to improve. If "JR to 25" was taken away like this bill would do, education opportunities for these people would go away.
Last summer, officers took young people out of Green Hill with no notice and placed them in DOC facilities, which made those people hide their faith and identities to maintain their safety. When the COVID-19 dam broke and courts began sentencing people, there was an overcrowding issue, but this shouldn't have been a surprise.
The people that have been charged with Prison Riot have been ages 18-21 and not over the age of 21.
Brain development science demonstrates that belief from others in young people allows people to succeed while in an institution.
Lewis County has been giving people additional prison time. Some people came to Green Hill with 15-36 month sentences and left with more than four years based on charges brought by Lewis County.
Young people are concerned about what the new Stafford Creek facility will look like and how similar this will be to the existing DCYF facilities.
The $30 million that is proposed for Stafford Creek funding should be used to enhance the current campus at Green Hill or improve alternate housing options.
(Other) The state has a complex challenge in its juvenile rehabilitation population as the population exceeds the number that can be appropriately served.
This bill introduces the safe number of individuals that can be served in a juvenile institution and provides some options for those institutions when the number exceeds that safe capacity either through transferring some people to community facilities or for those with adult sentences to DOC facilities.
In March and April of last year, the population at Green Hill went from 180 to between 230 and 240. There was a significant increase in violence there last summer. On July 5, the DCYF froze intakes. In mid July, the DCYF made the decision to transfer some young men into DOC facilities. Those actions were met with a legal challenge. There were agreements made in those legal challenges and intakes were reinstated and young people who wanted to return were allowed to return to Green Hill.
There are two secure juvenile institutions, and Green Hill serves males ages 17 through 25. There is a third site identified that would have up to 45 beds on the Stafford Creek campus that the DCYF is hoping to open in the next few months.
When there is a freeze on intakes at the DCYF that only makes the problem worse for everyone else. This problem should not be a surprise. The state has reduced capacity and extended the number of people who can reside in juvenile institutions. This bill should be a last resort.
This bill strikes certain notifications regarding the criminal history of people transferring to community facilities and there is opposition to that change.
There were trends of decline in juvenile incarceration and juvenile crime and that led to the closure of facilities. This closure did lead to the current problem that we are experiencing. The DCYF toured 20 different facilities around the state to identify appropriate facilities. Of these, the Stafford Creek facility was the only facility that was ready. The other facilities needed significant capital improvement.
(In support) Representative Lisa Callan, prime sponsor; and Nicole Gomez, Washington Federation of State Employees, Lobbyist.
The second substitute bill:
(In support) The goal of this legislation is to solve a capacity problem that is currently occurring in the JR facilities, and to prevent this over-capacity problem in the future. The prior closing of several other JR facilities without a clear plan has led to the overcrowding issue today. This bill takes a step in addressing the safe operational capacity in the juvenile system. The expanded use of community facilities will also help address overcrowding and will help to keep youth near their families.
There are a few other bills introduced this year that will ensure due process, public safety, and best practices for sentencing. Those bills will also have a direct impact on capacity within JR institutions. However, this is the only bill being considered by the Legislature that will not shift costs to the counties.
(Opposed) This bill undermines the promise of JR to 25. The state should not try to get out of an overcrowding crisis by debilitating a policy grounded in the science of adolescent brain development and intended to provide rehabilitation opportunities for young people. Young people must be served in a developmentally appropriate manner through JR to 25. The reason incarceration within the DOC is less expensive is because they provide less services and staffing. However, in the long-term the state will ultimately pay for the disintegration of the JR to 25 population with higher recidivism rates.
(Other) The JR system has been navigating overcrowding in their facilities all summer. The safe operational capacity of 150 individuals in a facility is the common number that is brought up a lot in the context of JR facilities, which is what the National Council for Juvenile Justice recommends as best practice. However, the national experts, that did an analysis of JR facilities, has recommended that the safe operational capacity at Green Hill School is 180 residents and the safe operational capacity at Echo Glen Children's Center is 116 residents.
There is a section of the bill that allows DCYF to waive notification requirements to the sheriffs and police chiefs when an individual is placed in a local community facility. Many of these individuals have committed serious crimes and local law enforcement would like to know when those individuals are returning to the community.
When the systems on the state level fail, it makes the challenges at the local level that much more dangerous and immediate. However, there is support for the balanced approach offered in this legislation to mitigate today's challenges while ensuring the JR system has the tools necessary to prevent the overcrowding issue from happening in the future.
(In support) Representative Lisa Callan, prime sponsor; Brad Banks, Washington State Association of Counties; and Nicole Gomez, Washington Federation of State Employees, Lobbyist.