Legislation designed to phase out detention of minors for status offenses such as truancy or running away from home has passed out of the Washington state Senate, according to a news release from the Senate Democrats.
Washington incarcerates more youth than any other state by a significant margin, according to the news release.
In 2016, more than 1,700 young people were incarcerated for non-criminal behavior in our state,” said bill sponsor Sen. Jeannie Darneille, D-Tacoma, in a statement. “The logic of existing law, that we ought to take kids out of school for failing to attend, is backward. Now is the time for our state to rectify a broken system that has been proven to inflict more harm than good on our young people.”
The bill would implement a phase-out period before eliminating detention for those offenses, and would require status offenders during that time to be separated from juveniles detained for criminal offenses.
“Our system is simply not working for the young people and families of our state who are in desperate need of additional resources to address serious obstacles they may be facing in their lives,” Darneille said. “This legislation sends a clear message that incarceration is no longer an acceptable avenue for addressing the barriers our children face on the path to becoming healthy participants in our society.”
The bill, Senate Bill 5596, passed on a bipartisan 26-22 vote. It will now move to the House of Representatives for consideration.
