Chuck Parkins Confirmed as Juvenile Division Director

Summary

Chuck Parkins was confirmed on Tuesday as the new Juvenile Division director at King County’s Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention.

Story

The Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention is excited to welcome Chuck Parkins as the new director of our Juvenile Division. In this role, he will be responsible for operations at the secure detention facility for youth at the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center. The Juvenile Division’s director also oversees community supervision for youth through King County’s Alternatives to Secure Detention program.

Parkins was appointed by County Executive Shannon Braddock following a nationwide recruitment and started working for King County on May 10. He was confirmed by the Metropolitan King County Council on Tuesday, June 10.

“Chuck Parkins is a great addition to the Department's management team,” said Allen Nance, Director of King County’s Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention. “His decades of experience and leadership in large and small detention settings for youth across the nation have provided him with vast insight into what works for youth in these settings. His vision and values align with those of King County. I am confident that in his role as director of the Juvenile Division at the Clark Children and Family Justice Center, he is ready to enhance and expand our capacity to meet the complex needs of youth in custody, while supporting the staff and partners who supervise and care for them each day. I applaud Executive Braddock and the King County Council for advancing his confirmation.”

Parkins’ career started as a juvenile detention officer, and he has been committed to supporting young people ever since. Prior to arriving in King County, he had served for three years as program director in a treatment setting at the Rite of Passage residential facility in Arkansas. His background includes other leadership roles in juvenile justice across the country. Before moving to Arkansas, he served as deputy associate commissioner for the New York City Administration for Children’s Services, where he was in charge of two secure juvenile detention facilities. He’s also worked in probation in Maricopa County, Arizona, and with Colorado’s Division of Youth Corrections.

In his new role, Parkins is looking forward to advancing safety, leading system change, and promoting equitable outcomes for the people we serve.

“I believe the youth we work with are among the most vulnerable in our communities and that they also hold incredible potential,” Parkins said. “We have a responsibility to help them become the most productive individuals they can be, for their own safety, for the safety of our communities, and for the future we all share."

A newcomer to the Pacific Northwest, Parkins is ready to explore the region’s natural beauty.