The Washington state House of Representatives on Saturday, April 5, held a public hearing for more than 30 bills, including one that would have major impacts on the state’s juvenile rehabilitation facilities, especially overcrowded Green Hill School in Chehalis.
Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5278, sponsored by state Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, is a complex bill that makes changes to how the state Department of Children, Youth and Families manages juvenile rehabilitation facilities.
The main function of the legislation is to require the department to establish an official rated bed capacity and require the department to begin planning ways to address overpopulation when a facility reaches 90% capacity. It then mandates the department to take immediate action to reduce population size when the facility reaches 105% capacity.
A major part of the proposed legislation is creating new ways to manage juveniles in a rehabilitation facility, including incentivizing transfers to community programs or transitional programs, early releases for eligible individuals, stopping placement of certain individuals in a juvenile facility when a facility is already over capacity, allowing the transfer of violent or uncooperative residents and improving the process for voluntary transfers to a Department of Corrections facility.
“This is a very important bill if we’re gonna keep the staff and residents safe and complete the mission,” Braun said. “We need to give the agency as much options as possible.”
The bill also includes funding for staffing and administrative work needed to enact the new policies. That funding is included in the Senate’s current budget proposal.
Nicole Gomez testified in support of the bill on behalf of the Washington Federation of State Employees, citing its intention to improve capacity issues and as a result improve safety for employees working at the juvenile rehabilitation facilities.
“We appreciate the recognition that this is a matter that requires immediate attention,” Gomez said. “This funding is a critical step toward ensuring that safety remains a top priority now and in the long term. Our members, especially those at Green Hill, continue to work in unsafe, unsustainable conditions until we sort out how we proceed here. Overcrowding puts staff and youth at risk and continues to drive high turnover.”
According to Senate Republicans, the situations at juvenile rehabilitation facilities across the state have been worsening since a series of justice reforms in 2018 and 2019, including “JR to 25.” The reform allowed those convicted before their 18th birthdays to delay being transferred from a juvenile facility to one for adults until they turn 25.
“JR-25 was well-intentioned, but our system was unprepared for the overcrowding that would happen,” Braun said previously. “Violent offenders are taking advantage of a system that wasn’t designed to hold them long-term, leading to dangerous conditions inside our juvenile justice facilities.”
Braun noted earlier this year that the Green Hill facility has become more difficult to manage due to overcrowding and has seen rises in violence, gang activity and drug use. Several staff members have participated in the illegal behaviors, from having inappropriate relationships with inmates to introducing drugs and contraband.
A large group testified as “other” on the bill rather than in support or opposition in an earlier hearing March 18 in front of the House Early Learning and Human Services Committee. Those testifying included four current residents of Green Hill School, two legal services groups, the Washington Defender Association, the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and a number of other concerned individuals.
Many testimonies recognized the bill's progress toward a solution for overcrowding but urged limiting the number of involuntary transfers from juvenile facilities to state Department of Corrections custody and implementing a hearing process for those being transferred.
As cause for their concerns, some commenters cited an incident from July 2024 when 43 inmates at Green Hill were transferred to Department of Corrections custody before a Thurston County judge ruled the transfer was illegal and ordered the residents returned to Green Hill School.
“We support the provisions of this bill requiring DCYF to address overcrowding before things reach a crisis and to lower barriers to community transition services and group homes and work release,” said Sarah Nagy, an attorney with Columbia Legal Services and counsel for one of the 43 July 2024 transferees. “If the Legislature chooses to give DCYF the power to transfer to DOC solely for population control then the individualized hearing process provided in this bill is a necessary component … We ask that youth be able to know that they won't lose their rehabilitative progress with no opportunity to assert their rights.”
Testimony from Green Hill residents, all of whom were part of the group of 43 juveniles transferred to the Department of Corrections last summer, showed concerns that language in the bill that allows involuntary transfers of residents who refuse to engage in programming might mean that older residents who have taken advantage of all the programming available could become eligible for involuntary transfer.
“I’ve been at Green Hill for many years. You know, I’ve got my bachelor’s degree and I’ve done all these programs,” Caya Lenay, a resident at Green Hill School, said. “I’m kind of in a situation now, like some of my other counterparts here, is like, there is no other programs. Now, my question is and some of the questions of some of the other residents here, is like, does that mean we qualify to get sent up?”
The bill was referred out of the House Committee on Appropriations Monday, April 7, with a “do pass with amendments” recommendation. The requested amendment is a striker amendment used to replace the text of a bill with new text. That amendment retains the legislation's original intention while addressing some of the concerns voiced during public hearings.
The new amendment requires transition planning for residents being transferred, it adds an expiration date to DYFS authority to involuntarily transfer individuals for capacity reasons and changes the requirements for those eligible for transfer. The new language also allows juveniles to move from the Department of Corrections to juvenile rehabilitation when capacity permits.
More information on the bill can be found using the Washington Legislature website. Go to https://leg.wa.gov/ and use the bill finding tool to follow its progress through the legislative process.
