Among the most serious failings of the Washington Legislature this year — and there were several — was that lawmakers failed to act decisively to rescue young people incarcerated in the squalid, crowded and dangerous conditions in the state’s youth prisons. Over years.
The reasons are complicated, but include a 2018 law allowing minors charged as adults to remain in youth prisons up to age 25. They would have support and services to aid in their rehabilitation — failed promises, as it turns out. Surging youth crime overwhelmed the juvenile prison system, and state officials all but shrugged.
A month before the Legislature convened in January, a Seattle Times editorial highlighted the festering conditions and urged legislative action.
“Time to take a hard look in the mirror,” concluded the editorial, authored by my colleague Claudia Rowe, who has visited the crowded Green Hill School in Chehalis several times and has seen the heart-wrenching conditions at the juvenile facility. “When it comes to youth justice, what kind of state do we want to be? And what kind of effort are we willing to put toward realizing that vision?”
Astoundingly, the Legislature ended its session, failing to act. The Times board intoned again: “This was a dereliction of duty, and the governor should call legislators back for a special session to finish their work.”
Another collective shrug. No such luck.
That editorial lamented the failure of two bills that ostensibly sought to tackle the challenge. One, proposed by Senate Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, would have provided the Department of Children, Youth and Families with tools that would be triggered when the population reached 105% of capacity. Green Hill School can safely operate with around 180 young men and boys. But the population has stood above 220, sometimes 240, for over a year. Administrators would have discretion to evaluate whether some of the population should be moved to an adult prison or, under rigorous guidelines, be moved to a community setting.
Even though sponsored by a Republican, SB 5278 passed the Democratic-controlled Senate unanimously, 49-0.
Sen. Claire Wilson, D-Auburn, chair of the Senate Human Services Committee, proposed SB 5296, which would have required judges to specifically find, based on a “preponderance of the evidence,” that a young person could be placed in youth prison when no community-based placement was available.
As DCYF Secretary Tana Senn told the Washington State Standard May 12, Wilson’s bill would not have addressed the urgent and growing population concerns at Green Hill.
Yet, Sen. Wilson — repeatedly — said the two bills were a package; an assertion that Sen. Braun insisted was not the case: “It was never a package deal from the Republicans’ perspective.”
Green Hill is in Braun’s district, and he worked hard to find a practical solution to make it safe for both young people and staff members.
“We wanted to help the department manage the prison to reestablish safety at Green Hill,” he said. He worked with DCYF, the governor’s office and worked across the aisle.
“We worked with Democrats to make the changes they wanted,” Braun said. ” … That’s why it was unanimous” in the Senate.
In our May editorial asking for a special session, we lamented that these two bills were victims of the legislative crush, that one more effort might gain some relief for this year.
Wilson told the Standard she “really felt disappointed for the young people that we let down.”
Interesting. Turns out that, when Wilson realized her bill fell far short of the votes needed to pass the House, she deliberately deep-sixed Braun’s bill, and consequently, any meaningful relief for harmful conditions.
Through a public records request, The Times editorial board obtained a Teams chat between Wilson and state Rep. Julio Cortes, D-Everett, vice chair of the House Early Learning and Human Services Committee.
Here is the unedited transcript of their chat on the evening of April 16 (5296 is Wilson’s bill and 5278 is Braun’s):
Rep. Cortes: We couldn’t get the votes for 5296 — very frustrating — I’m sorry
Sen. Wilson: Thanks for letting me know. Please do not let 5278 run. That was a package deal.
Cortes: We are working hard to make sure it doesn’t run. We made them do another vote count. (Human Services) Chair (Steve) Bergquist and I recommended to the caucus to vote no on running it
We will find out in the next few mins
Wilson: BEFORE anything goes on the floor please let me know if that is what the decision is. It is not what we agreed on all along the way moving these bills.
Cortes: Absolutely
What I told folks was exactly that. From the beginning, we said, both or none.
Wilson: Deepest gratitude and appreciation.
On that last comment, she added a heart emoji, not for the incarcerated young people, but for her political purposes.
Talk about the perfect being the enemy of the good. Strike that, the imperfect.
The good would be some kind of relief for intolerable circumstances experienced by young people who need help. Perhaps these youth with criminal convictions are not as cuddly as low-income preschool children, or as sympathetic as foster children, as heart-pulling as newborns born drug-addicted or have as bright a future as working-class kids heading to college, but — record scratch! — the Legislature cut funding in each of those categories this year.
Hardly a progressive record to be proud of for the Democratic-controlled Legislature. At least, lawmakers protected state employee raises — 5% over four years — that former Gov. Jay Inslee negotiated last year, using deeply flawed revenue forecasts. That decision, and well-documented legislative overspending, necessitated other costly cuts to services for state residents.
Back to the youth prisons crisis. The thing is, young people, with support and resources, can find a way to redeem themselves, to be contributing members of our society.
These young people deserved better, not to be casualties of a craven, elbow-throwing political play.
The Democratic-controlled Legislature favored political clout and expediency over these young people; and the governor let that stand.
Do better.
