Title
AN ORDINANCE related to juvenile detention; establishing policy guidance for the implementation of county policies and goals to reduce the use of secure confinement for children and youth in King County.
Body
STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. King County leaders are committed to preventing youth involvement in the juvenile justice system, advancing the goal of zero youth detention and reducing the negative impacts of involvement in the juvenile justice system.
2. Ordinance 13916, approving Phase II of the Juvenile Justice Operation Master Plan, was adopted in 2000 as the policy of King County to emphasize prevention, intervention, and alternatives to the use of secure detention for juvenile offenders.
3. In 2014, Ordinance 17738 called for the development of a Youth Action Plan to set King County's priorities for serving its young people, from infants through young adults. In 2015, Motion 14378 adopted a youth action plan for King County, which had nine areas of recommendations, including Recommendation Area 3: Stop the School to Prison Pipeline. Recommendation Area 3 called on King County and its partners to support preventative practices and programs that reduce the likelihood of contact with the juvenile justice system and the reduction in the use of, and move toward eliminating, detention for nonviolent crimes of youth under age eighteen.
4. King County is at the national forefront in reducing the use of secure confinement of juveniles through innovative and collaborative juvenile justice reform delivered in partnership with employees, superior court, the prosecutor's office and local law enforcement, resulting in the reduction of juvenile offender filings by seventy-seven percent between 2000 and 2016, and a twenty percent reduction in admissions to secure detention between 2015 and 2016. King County makes substantial financial investments in services aimed at preventing children and youth involvement in the juvenile justice system, as well as investmen...

Click here for full text