Seattleâs juvenile detention facility is coming to an end after nationwide calls for criminal justice reform and years of public outcry from local activists on the ground in the city.
King County Executive Dow Constantine tweeted Tuesday that the county is enacting a five-year plan to close the remaining detention units at the Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center, otherwise known to activists as Seattleâs âyouth jail.â
âPhasing out centralized youth detention is no longer a goal in the far distance. We have made extraordinary progress and we have evolved to believe that even more can be done,â Constantine said. âThe COVID crisis has shown that things once deemed impossible are now possible, and we are challenging ourselves and the entire community to keep to that path.â
The closing process will begin âas quickly as possibleâ and funding for the facility will instead be reallocated towards âhealthy and community-based solutions,â according to Constantine.
Just 21 juvenile detainees are being held at the facility according to a memo from Constantine.
Activist groups including No Youth Jail Coalition, Youth Undoing Institutional Racism (YUIR), and Ending the Prison Industrial Complex have long condemned the facilityâs construction and question the necessity of a five-year timeline for its closure.
Members say its services are not needed in light of falling detention rates in the county and its disproportionate impact on youths of color.
âWe do not serve our children, especially Black, Indigenous and other children of color, by focusing our energy and resources on them serving time,â Livio De La Cruz, a board member with Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County, said in a statement. âWe want a system that supports youth and helps them lead healthy, productive, and fulfilling lives. Their lives matter. Ending youth incarceration is the right thing to do for our children, their families, and all of us.â
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Black residents made up 7 percent of King Countyâs population in 2019 despite making up 37 percent of the inmates in King County secure detention last year.
The Washington Office of Financial Management reported the juvenile arrest rate for violent crimes have steadily fallen from its peak in 1993. In 2017, the rate was 1.24 per thousand.
According to a report by the Washington State Center for Court Research ordered by the Washington legislature, King County saw its juvenile detention population fall by 19 percent from 2017 to 2018.
The new facility was built to replace the aging King County Correctional Facility (KCCF), which is facing an estimated $40 million in repairs, according to the county. KCCF has 1,331 inmates, well under the nearly 1,900 who were incarcerated prior to the stay home orders prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It employs 350 correctional staff.
Opening in February, the CFJC boasts 92,000 square feet and 112 jail cells with capacity to jail 146 inmates. It also includes a 137,000 square foot courthouse with 10 courtrooms.
The facilityâs price tag originally stood between $200 and $210 million and was bankrolled by a property tax levy approved by 55 percent of King County voters in 2012. The final cost rounded out at $242 million.
The announcement of the facilityâs closure spurred praise from a number of activists such as former Seattle mayoral candidate Nikkita Oliver, a local activist and longtime opponent of the facility.
“Movements work! AND we can close this down now,” Oliver tweeted. Letâs shorten this 5 year timeline. #NoNewYouthJail #WeAreWinning A new world is possible! Now letâs #DefundSPD.”
The development follows calls for defunding the Seattle Police Department by as much as 50 percent amid months-long protests against police brutality. The measure is largely supported by the Seattle City Council.
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan has offered police budget cuts well below that amount and faces a petition recalling her from office.
The Office of the King County Executive and the King County Corrections Guild could not be reached for comment.
