Following fatal shooting, Dunn calls for audit of controversial Restorative Community Pathways diversion program

June 11, 2024

After a juvenile who failed to engage in Restorative Community Pathways (RCP) programming was charged with the murder of a woman last month, King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn is calling for an audit of the controversial diversion program.

The 16-year-old was previously arrested in 2021 for brandishing a gun at school and referred to RCP, but did not participate. Instead of then being charged or sent to an alternative diversion program, the juvenile’s case was never addressed.

“King County’s failure to hold Restorative Community Pathways accountable is an injustice to juveniles who need meaningful rehabilitation, and to the general public who deserve to be safe,” Dunn said. “Sadly, we are seeing that there are big consequences to these policy failures. An audit of RCP’s performance and financial practices is long overdue.”

As a matter of policy, if a juvenile offender consents to participate in RCP programs but fails to do so, then the case is not returned to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for court-monitored diversion or charges. It is unclear how many cases there are of juveniles failing to receive rehabilitation services through RCP not being held accountable through the courts either.

Since 2021, King County has allocated $16 million to Restorative Community Pathways. Yet, RCP has had performance issues, serving far fewer juveniles than the county intended, enrolling only 170 youths referred by prosecutors in 2023, though the county planned to refer 400 to 600 cases to RCP. As of December 2023, only 181 juveniles have completed the program since RCP was started. Over one-third of juvenile cases referred to RCP are returned to the PAO because the offender cannot be located or declines to participate, yet it can take over a year for RPC to return the case, resulting in it never being addressed. In addition, Dunn has criticized RCP’s lack of transparency and meaningful performance metrics, with RCP defining completion of its program as making progress on, or completing, self-identified goals.

In January 2022, Dunn requested a pause to Restorative Community Pathways and requested the removal of certain felony charges from the program. His motion was not successful. In October 2023, Dunn requested that the State perform an audit of RCP, but the State Auditor declined, in part because “the program appears to have been designed to collect only limited and general information about the youth that participate. Without more robust and detailed program data, assessing the program’s effectiveness would be quite challenging.”

Dunn is requesting that the King County Auditor’s Office perform financial and performance audits of Restorative Community Pathways as part of its 2025 work program. Read the full letter.