By Erica C. Barnett
The King County Council committed yesterday to keeping the Patricia Clark Children and Family Justice Center open, in a symbolic vote that signals a retreat from previous commitments to close down the youth jail.
The resolution, originally proposed by Republican Councilmember Reagan Dunn, says, “It is the intent of the King County Council to maintain operations of the juvenile secure detention facility at the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center.”
During the summer of 2020, King County Executive Dow Constantine committed to closing down the youth jail, saying the county would move “public dollars away from systems that are rooted in oppression and into those that maintain public health and safety, and help people on a path to success.” Historically, the county has disproportionately jailed Black youth; in 2021, Constantine said closing the youth jail would affirm
King County’s commitment to becoming an anti-racist, pro-equity government.”
As part of this “Care and Closure” effort, an advisory committee recommended six actions the county could take to facilitate the closure of the youth jail, but not all had unanimous support; for instance, a proposal to create a “receiving and respite” center for young people to go immediately after they’re arrested, as an alternative to jail, proved contentious.
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During yesterday’s meeting, Democratic council members emphasized that they were still committed to creating a better kind of youth detention at some point in the future.
Councilmember Girmay Zahilay called this a “yes, and” approach, through which “we can have a building with a secure perimeter, where the internal infrastructure is far more conducive to rehabilitation, mental health, education, job training and more. … This is what our amendment calls for—a commitment to transformation, while acknowledging the persistent need for a serious building that is far more oriented toward rehabilitation.”
A majority of the people who spoke about the jail supported closing it or replacing it with a less punitive facility. The jail supporters included several speakers who suggested that incarcerating young people was the only way to keep children, elderly people, and other law-abiding people safe.
“Unfortunately some kids need to go on to a juvenile detention center because the other things are not working,” said one Maple Valley resident, who said her daughter was attacked by “minorities” because she is white. “Please, keep the facility open,” she said, claiming this was the only way her family could feel safe from “being jumped” by non-white people in their community.
As of today, there are 59 young people, from 12 to 18 years old, incarcerated at the youth jail, with another 48 on electronic home detention; 61 percent of them are Black.
