Dunn motion opposes closure of King County’s youth detention center

April 2, 2024

King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn on Tuesday will introduce a motion at the regular meeting of the King County Council that would express the King County Council’s opposition to closing the Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center (CCFJC), as proposed by the King County Executive. Dunn’s legislation follows a contentious hearing last week at the Council’s Law and Justice Committee of the final ‘Care and Closure’ report, which revealed that the County is still considering a switch to unsecure detention for juveniles who have committed violent felonies.

“I’m putting this motion forward because I have lost faith in the planning process for the future of juvenile detention,” Dunn said. “There is an ongoing push at King County to not only close the youth detention center, but to instead place these juvenile offenders in community homes scattered across King County, with no locks on the doors. I find this entirely unconscionable and unrealistic and want to make it clear to King County residents that this is not a policy that is supported by the King County Council.”

Previously referred to as ‘Zero Youth Detention,’ King County’s ‘Care and Closure’ initiative seeks to close the CCFJC even as the number of juvenile violent felonies—which include murder, assault, rape, shootings, and burglaries—skyrocket. In 2023, juvenile violent felony filings were up 57% from 2022 and a shocking 146% from 2021. As of late February, of the 46 crimes that landed juveniles in detention, 33 were violent in nature, including murder, rape, drive-by shootings, assault, and robbery, often involving a gun.

The report heard in the Council’s Law and Justice Committee last week revealed an internal debate among the Advisory Committee over whether detention should be secure in the future. Advisory Committee members remain sharply divided on whether or not to have locks on the doors to the ‘community care homes that would serve as alternatives to the current detention center and have been unable to agree on a recommendation regarding security. This topic is slated for further discussion as the Committee seeks to come to a final recommendation.

The CCFJC opened in 2020 and cost $242 million. It was intended to be a more rehabilitative approach to juvenile justice, containing modern classrooms, a library, a gym and a medical clinic all within the same building as community services and juvenile courtrooms. Though the original goal was to close the detention facility by 2025, this report revised the anticipated closure date to 2028.