Juvenile facilities in Washington state forced to stop accepting new prisoners due to overcrowding

Washington State’s Department of Children, Youth & Families (DCYF) has stopped taking new prisoners at two juvenile rehabilitation facilities due to what officials have called “overcrowding.”

In a statement, the Washington Association of Sheriffs said that Echo Glen Children’s Center in Snoqualmie and Green Hill School in Chehalis suspended new intakes, "regardless of violence or severity of the crime." Secretary Ross Hunter notified juvenile, adult, and tribal courts, "When too many young people are concentrated in small spaces it can escalate behaviors and limit the ability for therapeutic rehabilitation. This was not sustainable. Our facilities must be safe, therapeutic, and functional."

DCYF said in a press release that this doesn’t mean juvenile offenders will be released, but rather they will remain in a county facility until the population numbers inside the juvenile rehabilitation facilities come down. The outlet noted that it could take months for the population levels in the juvenile rehabilitation facilities to become sustainable again.

The overcrowding is attributed to an increase in juvenile crimes and understaffing at the facilities. Echo Glen has been plagued with multiple violent incidents and escapes. Adult facilities were previously reported to have stopped accepting new intakes due to a lack of staffing.

"We can’t intake juvenile offenders into juvenile detention because DCYF is too busy detaining adults in juvenile detention," WA State Rep. Travis Couture posted on X. "That’s called JR to 25. The average age of a juvenile in Echo Glen is 19.5 years old. WASPC is right, the juvenile system is for juveniles first. On top of that, workforce shortages and courts catching up from COVID backlogs exacerbate the problem. If county detention centers fill up, I suspect they’ll start releasing juveniles. Juvenile crime is out of control in WA, and we need reforms fast. I’ve been working on some juvenile justice policy this interim and plan on introducing legislation on the topic. More to follow on that in the months to come."

On Friday, a 16-year-old boy who was charged in the shooting and killing a 13-year-old girl inside a Washington mall was released from custody on bail. The suspect is accused of discharging a firearm during an altercation with another group at the Alderwood Mall food court in Lynnwood, Washington. A bullet struck 13-year-old Jayda Woods-Johnson, who was not involved with either group.

Following the release, Jayda’s parents Tabitha and Jeremy Johnson said in a statement that they were “sickened” and “troubled” to learn that the court had failed to protect others from the suspect and called the release “completely unreasonable.”