Restorative justice advocates and critics of 12th Ave’s new youth jail and justice center say keeping people incarcerated during a pandemic is morally reprehensible and a risk to everybody’s health. King County Executive Dow Constantine probably won’t quiet the critics but he did announce that his jails “have quickly reduced the number of people in custody” by more than 600 adults.
The reduction is “providing the staff with more opportunities to keep everyone in correctional facilities safe and healthy,” the announcement from Constantine’s office reads.
The number of youth housed at 12th Ave’s Children and Family Justice Center is 36, down from 43, according to the county.
The reduction is “mostly the result of courts, public defenders, prosecutors, and law enforcement prioritizing jail beds for those who pose an imminent risk to public safety,” the county says.
While nobody has yet tested positive while in custody , three staff members – two at the King County Correctional Facility and one at the Children and Family Justice Center – have reported testing positive for COVID-19, the county reports.
If an adult in custody tests positive, the staff will transfer them to a designated housing unit at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent where they will provide appropriate care in medical isolation using personal protective equipment. “Jail Health Services will transfer them to a hospital if their needs exceed the staff’s ability to provide appropriate care,” the county says.
Reducing the number of adults in custody has provided the staff “with more opportunities to promote social distancing.” The number of youth at the Children and Family Justice Center, meanwhile, “was already low enough that each youth has their own dorm room where the staff can provide individualized care.”
The Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention is providing updates including the number of COVID-19 tests and the daily population “along with answers to frequently asked questions” at kingcounty.gov.
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I hope this practice during covid turns into a way for King County to reduce its “lock away kids” mentality and explore more community-based investments so that families can get the resources they need to prevent kids from winding up in the criminal justice system in the first place. At-home and in-community methods to address crimes is a lot more economically sustainable, humane, and apparently better for our public health anyway.