Senate Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, and Centralia Police Chief Stacy Denham called “the current situation” at Green Hill School in Chehalis “a complete failure, not just for the staff and inmates, but also for communities across Washington,” and again called for additional investigation into the facility in a joint statement Wednesday.
In response, a spokesperson for Gov. Jay Inslee disputed the assessment and said the state Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) would “soon” provide additional information “contradicting other falsehoods,” including on inmate supervision and a recent incident where “contraband in a football thrown over the fence” was successfully handled by DCYF.
“Outside of misleading politically-motivated broadsides, Braun and Denham haven’t even taken up DCYF on an offer to talk more about their concerns,” spokesperson Mike Faulk wrote in an email Friday. “Fortunately, the state has a healthy and collaborative relationship with others locally, including the Chehalis Police Department.”
The statement and response come after Inslee told The Chronicle last week the facility has improved its security system and screenings for illicit drug use as part of an “ongoing effort” throughout the state.
Green Hill School is a juvenile detention and rehabilitation system in Chehalis that is run by the DCYF. Last week, Inslee said the institution has taken steps to improve security at the facility, which has seen heightened scrutiny in recent months.
“I think the institution has a better screening system now. They have a better way to handle the drugs that are found,” Inslee said Thursday. “Every prison, every jail in America has this problem, right? Of how to keep drugs out of their system. This is not unique to this facility.”
According to Braun and Dennam, confiscated items are given to law enforcement as a “package” along with a monthly report “so poorly written that the Chehalis Police Department offered to teach the facility staff how to prepare it correctly.”
Faulk said the process was agreed to by DCYF and the Chehalis Police Department in September, adding, “We thank the Chehalis police chief for his continued efforts to help DCYF address these issues.”
According to Faulk, staff also worked with the Chehalis Police Department on “a process for comprehensive evidence packets accompanying the evidence implemented in October.”
“Chehalis also offered evidence collection and crime scene preservation training they are working with the Green Hill superintendent to schedule,” Faulk said.
In May, Denham joined other local officials in a letter to Inslee’s office which asked the governor to direct the Washington state attorney general to investigate the facility, “for their ongoing practices and procedures.”
After a representative for the governor declined and noted recent security improvements, the Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team served a search warrant at the facility while investigating whether staff members had provided narcotics to inmates. During the search, officers seized evidence related to the possession and distribution of illegal controlled substances.
In their more recent statement, Braun and Denham claimed Inslee “minimizes the problems plaguing detention centers around the state, including Green Hill School in Chehalis.”
“We cannot emphasize enough how badly the hiring, training and security protocols at Green Hill School and other state-run detention facilities across Washington need to be overhauled to ensure the safest and most effective environment for the rehabilitation of offenders,” Braun and Denham said in the statement. “We call on Governor Inslee and DCYF Secretary Ross Hunter to step up and take responsibility for enacting real solutions rather than just putting a bandage on the problem and calling it good.”
