SEATTLE — Inside the King County Council chambers, the debate about youth detention continued on Wednesday.
"We know detention is causing harm, we know detention is expensive, it is always the right time to do the right thing,” said Celia Jackson, director of criminal legal system transformation at the King County Executive’s Office
In the past, King County Executive Dow Constantine said he's committed to ending the use of jail for children and youth. An advisory committee has been examining that goal.
"I think it is a fantasy and I don't think it will work at all,” said Reagan Dunn, a councilmember who is against closing the youth detention center.
Dunn is a critic of the recommendation to create a network of community care homes where youth would stay as their court case proceeds if it is not safe for them to stay at home.
"The conversation spanned the spectrum of people saying no locked door to no unlocked door. The vast majority is in between, and everybody understands that the first thing is safety,” said Sheila Ater Capestany, with the Department of Community and Human Services.
"I just don't see it, not with the level of violence going on in the community right now,” King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci said in response to the idea of unlocked doors.
King County data showed juveniles committed 177 violent crimes last year. That is a 57% increase from 2022.
"As a community, we should do everything we can to reduce youth incarceration,” said Ketu Shah, King County Superior Court judge.
Shah said the detention facility should remain open.
"The detention facility is one of those tools that we have to use sometimes because of the circumstances of the case. We don't use that tool lightly,” Shah said.
Initially, the stated goal was to close the detention facility by 2025. Now the King County Executive’s Office said it won’t happen until at least 2028 at the earliest.