It could be a service center for homeless youth and their families, or a place where young people could have access to detox services. Lily Anderson, Senior Social Worker, or the, Youth who are eligible for diversion, along with their parent or guardian, meet with a team of trained volunteers (learn more about the Partnership for Youth Justice program and theDiversion Community Accountability Board. Many of us know that something is wrong with the criminal justice system, but we dont know what to do about it or where to start. Whether youre are in crisis now, or its after the fact, we have tools and people with experience to help you diagram the situation and build a roadmap. RCP will continue to be evaluated to determine its effectiveness in outcomes for both the youth referred to the Prosecuting Attorneys Office and the harmed party with the goal of improving public safety in King County. King County Executive Dow Constantine provided details and updates on the early successes of Restorative Community Pathways, a community-based juvenile diversion program. At the same time, Change Washington believes other reforms should include the following: Theres been enough wasted spending and no accountability when it comes to addressing the homelessness crisis in King County. Community Passageways CP COVID-19 Response: We are continuously committed to helping young people, their families, and the community by meeting basic needs, meeting virtually, and advocating for the release of incarcerated people. Community Passageways is driven by the belief that guidance and support are more effective in inspiring people to make positive choices, seeing their unlimited potential and envisioning a future where they can live their lives fully. Earlier this year, Constantine said the county would repurpose its new youth jail by 2025 and close the adult jail in Seattle at an undetermined point in the future. We collaborate with families, schools, the court system, correctional center staff, religious institutions, policy makers, and community members to support adolescent youth of color. Youll send in juveniles without any prior offenses on their record. The consortium will also include programming for young people charged in adult court; under current Washington law, kids aged 16 to 17 charged with serious violent felonies are automatically placed in adult court. Many criminals, particularly criminal youths, have been victimized in the same way they victimize others. Featured Image: A No New Youth Jail advocate protests outside the Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center. Program providers report 86 percent of youth participants are meeting their program goals and 94 percent are increasing connection with adults, family, and the community.. Program providers report 86 percent of youth participants are meeting their program goals and 94 percent are increasing connection with adults, family, and the community. The goal of Step-Up is for youth to stop violence and abuse toward their family and developrespectful family relationships so that all family members feel safe at home. Restorative Community Pathways is an evidence and community-based program to help change a youths behavior, reducing crime and creating a better future for themselves, their families, and our community. They will be responsible for the direction of RCP, hold a central role in supporting community evaluations of RCP, and support in the distribution of funds. "This restorative community pathway builds up the young person, sees them as a possibility to be developed and not a problem to be solved, while simultaneously making sure that the harmed party . A proposal to pause the recently implemented Restorative Community Pathways program, a program intended to divert juvenile criminal cases from the juvenile justice system into a rehabilitative program, has ignited a countywide debate on justice reform in our region. Some might argue that citing potential school shooters is fear-mongering because such instances are rare. Restorative Community Pathways (RCP) was implemented in November. She said 50 percent of incarcerated youth end up returning to the criminal justice system. The Restorative Community Coalition Who is held accountable? Restorative Community Pathways (RCP) is the best way to reduce the juvenile crime rate in King County, said Jimmy Hung, Chief Deputy Prosecutor at King Countys Juvenile Division. King County Executive Dow Constantine proposes new - The Seattle Times Just like there are some homeless who genuinely want to get back on their feet, there are some criminals who, if given the opportunity, will leave that life behind and lead productive lives. Data collected between November 1 of last year and August 18, 2022, shows that of the 145 youth participating in RCP in lieu of prosecution, only 12, or just over eight percent, have had new case referrals. King County has historically proven that diversion works to reduce juvenile crime, and thats exactly what RCP aims to do. Seattle, WA 98104. On a more fundamental level, Hung said he believes that when it comes to community safety, the people who actually live in communities affected by crime know whats best for their community. Restorative Community Pathways is an evidence and community-based program to help change a youths behavior, reducing crime and creating a better future for themselves, their families, and our community, said Executive Constantine. None of these resources are provided to the victims of crimes in the traditional justice system. We have civic leadership opportunities, mentoring, and change-making resources available so you can feel confident and be an effective ally for those who have been silenced by the criminal legal sector. Restorative Community Pathways (RCP) is the best way to reduce the juvenile crime rate in King County, said Jimmy Hung, Chief Deputy Prosecutor at King County's Juvenile Division. A $6.2 million program called Restorative Community Pathways would refer up to 800 young people, by 2023, to community-based services, rather than filing criminal charges against them. When it opened, the County offered tours to show off the pastel-colored walls, art collection, and brightly lit common areas that set it apart from the old facility. This is a new "restorative justice" program that provides alternatives to jail time. Available data for the program provided by the Prosecuting Attorneys Office, while early, is promising. Beyond this, the community-based organizations can help victims of crimes in areas that have nothing to do with the crime itself such as housing or food insecurity. King County Council approves program to let community groups - KOMO Director . We provide youth mentors and access to programs focused on personal healing, identity development, and leadership building. You can choose your level of involvement.It will take many hands working together at different levels to bridge the gaps while rebuilding healthy communities. At the end of public comment, the motion came up for a vote among the committee, during which it was rejected as every committee member other than Dunn voted against it. Seahawks Social Justice | Seattle Seahawks - Seahawks.com Now, we look at how it's actually run - and our recommendations on how to change it. Kids engage in risk-taking, Hung said. Restorative Community Pathways for youth offenders contrasts with traditional prosecution. Though the distinction between serious felonies and other charges usually rests on the existence of a victim, Jordan and other advocates pointed to a hole in that reasoning. Marlon Brown, a board member of Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County, called the changes a first step. I think we as a society, and especially in America, need to have a come to Jesus moment on what our criminal justice system is actually capable of, Hung said. Show them new paths. 2 dead, 1 critically wounded in shooting at Cal Anderson Park in Seattle, Think Seattle-area property taxes are rising fast? Our Team CHOOSE 180 CONTACT 410 W. Bakerview Rd Suite 110, Rm #145 interventions at the Patricia Clark Child and Family Justice Center and in the community. Juvenile division prosecutor defends Restorative Community Pathways When you get involved helping people, or doing community advocacy, we provide coaching. It has metastasized into a civic systems problem and a taxpayers nightmare. respectful family relationships so that all family members feel safe at home. Last July, Constantine made a commitment to guide the County toward an end to youth detention by 2025, promising to transition the new detention center to other uses and [shift] public dollars away from systems that are rooted in oppression and into those that maintain public health and safety, and help people on a path to success.. If passed, the property tax levy will help fund behavioral health infrastructure in the region. It costs taxpayers anywhere from $30,000 to $250,000a year to keep someone in jail. Instead of court, some people who've committed a crime could. We should be allowed the same grace that the criminal legal system has been shown.. If someone had an infectious disease, Goode said, You would isolate that person, keep them away from others for a period of time to keep them from being a harm to themselves or others, and simultaneously treat the disease. Although that model sounds similar to youth detention, Goode said, choosing new caregivers and administrators would be a game changer.. Henok Gebreyohannes. Collective Justice, Creative Justice, Community Passageways, and CHOOSE 180 have worked together with the Department of Public Defense to co-create an alternative to the juvenile court system that has been written into the King County Executive's biannual budget and is set to begin . . Hung said that over the last several decades, crime has decreased dramatically. They were consulted on both fronts prior to todays announcement. But, after seeing the actual effects that incarceration has on people, his view shifted, Hung said. Dunn said his concerns with the program are with some felonies that the program included such as certain assault charges, which he said he believes youth should have to see a judge in order to be held accountable. Or do you know someone who would benefit from our programs? Collective Justice. He has published work withKUOW,North Carolina Public Radio, andThe Progressivemagazine, and he is currently working on a podcast forKUAFin Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Restorative Community Coalition Phone: 360-354-3653 Email: mail@therestorativecommunity.org Mailing address: PO Box 31026, Bellingham, WA 98228 Office Address: Bakerview Square Business Suites 410 W. Bakerview Rd Suite 110, Rm #145 Bellingham, WA 98226 (This article was originally published on PubliCola and has been reprinted under an agreement.). But even as the overall number decreased, our current juvenile legal system has a disproportionately harmful impact on youth of color, particularly black youth. The only thing Hung as a prosecutor can promise the victim is that he will listen to them, and even in cases in which restitution to the victim is ordered, it is rarely ever paid out. The greater challenge, he said, is reducing the need for those services and deciding whether an end to youth detention is actually the end of detention in its current form. And thats where I think the community comes in and they do a much much better job than we could ever do.. Restorative Community Pathways (@restorative_community - Instagram Invest $6.2 million in "Restorative Community Pathways" In lieu of filing charges, the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office will refer up to 800 young people by 2022-2023 to receive comprehensive, community-based services. It is at the early education, intervention, 911 call, the hospital and at the jail doors. It's a diversion program for some first-time criminal offenders. Over the last 20 years in Seattle, we have seen a sharp decline in the number of young people in detention. Rep. Kirsten Harris-Talley 37th Legislative District, Co-Sponsor. FIRS serves families at the Patricia Clark Child and Family Justice Center and in the community after an arrest orreferral from law enforcement following an incident of family violence. One had arrived in the facility earlier that day; another had spent nearly 640 days in detention for a first-degree rape charge. Schulman said she wondered why Dunn would take such a large step backward from progressive and holistic solutions to justice reform that works to break down the school-to-prison pipeline. A restorative practice approach is used with teens and parents together to address violent incidents that have occurred. We have a system that is wildly racially disproportionate, and its disproportionate despite what Fox News will tell you, because Black and brown people are treated differently throughout our society, including by every element of the criminal and legal system, Constantine said. Bottomline, the accumulated effect is that we are ending habitual trauma cycles that plague individuals, families and the whole community network. She argued that RCP was designed to better address and rehabilitate these behaviors and do so better than the court system, criminal records and incarceration have ever done. The goal of Step-Up is for youth to stop violence and abuse toward their family and develop. This 2020 short documentary presented by the Seattle Seahawks, tells the story of Restorative Community Pathways, a program that seeks to alter the current juvenile legal system and instead. And so someone who is drafting a motion like that just doesnt understand it.. , FIRS serves families at the Patricia Clark Child and Family Justice Center and in the community after an arrest orreferral from law enforcement following an incident of family violence. DominiqueDavisis the founder and CEO of Community Passageways. The courtrooms in the old center were cramped and gave little privacy to young defendants, while the new facilitys courtrooms offer more breathing room. The same person who goes through the justice system as a victim one day goes through as a defendant the next. If the county wants to find alternatives to detention for the young people facing serious felony charges, she said, the solution may involve offering victim support services more widely. Obviously there are some that are unlikely to reoffend or are better suited getting therapy than facing jailtime, but that is impossible to determine when the entire basis of the program is that the criminal is the real victim and the system itself is the criminal. He said the referrals from police departments recommending prosecution of a juvenile has drastically decreased from the tens of thousands of referrals he would receive annually in the mid-1990s, to now just over 1,000 in 2021. With restrictions about COVID-19 rapidly changing, please check with individual departments to be sure a building is open before you seek in-person service. Of the 28 young people incarcerated in King County on March 4, nearly half were charged as adults for first-degree assault, attempted murder, or murder charges; they will move to adult detention centers after their 18th birthdays. The county still jails young people charged with more the most serious felonies including first-degree assault, robbery, and murder as a default. Karen Pillar, director of policy for youth legal services office, cited stats from the last time the state studied recidivism rates for incarcerated youth. Our programs focus on personal healing, identity development, and leadership building. We create alternatives to incarceration for youth and young adults by rebuilding our communities through committed relationships centered on love, compassion, and consistency. Like with the homeless, outreach to juvenile offenders need to be able to identify one from the other so that efforts arent wasted on the wrong people. Jeremy Crowe, RestorativePrograms Supervisor, 206-477-6528, Find certified small business contractors and suppliers, For Families Experiencing Violence in the Home. The new buildings amenities and art collection are more respectful, he said, but ultimately, its a kid jail. That presumes that restorative justice is oppositional to public safety, Hung said. We specifically work with people who are impacted by a 911 incident, an arrest, investigation or other encounter with law enforcement, courts, the criminal legal system, or longer term incarceration. An additional $2.7 million investment would divert about 1,000 first-time, nonviolent adult offenders out of the judicial system. Time, money and resources become more than a click of a button. In study after study, children prosecuted in juvenile court achieve less success and do more harm than comparable youth who have been diverted out of the formal court system.. With everything going on in this country youre going to allow people to go to a program with no checkback thats brought a gun to school?. Renton City Councilmembers Kim-Khanh Van and Carmen Rivera echoed this sentiment, expressing belief that the region needs holistic approaches to diverting youth from the court system in favor of a more rehabilitative approach. Carr then pivoted to the newly-implemented Restorative Community Pathways (RCP). Support: Support people already in the prison system. Restorative Community - Covid19 Mutual Aid - Seattle | Facebook Rep. Harris-Talley has spent over 20 years building powerful movements for change in our region and statewide . Investing in people who are striving to rebuild their lives has a multiplier effect. There should be real ramifications, including prosecution, for these dangerous crimes.. While most cases referred to Restorative Community Pathways involve alleged misdemeanors, the program expands the number of eligible allegations to include more felonies than the previous. The county will launch new restorative justice programs, for both adult and youth offenders, aimed at keeping people out of the traditional criminal justice system. Restorative Practices | Empoweredpathwayscny One can presume that this same foundational premise will be used for the adult version of this program the county intends to start soon. By 2020, Choose 180s annual report noted that 96% of the young people it served did not reoffend within a year. The truth is, criminal rehabilitation and homelessness outreach must adopt the same strategy if theyre to succeed. She is a strong champion for mental health and addiction recovery, strengthening our schools, reforming the criminal justice system, and affordable housing. From his perspective, a restorative justice model that automatically divides violent offenders from their peers is counterproductive. Diversion: Keep people out of the prison system and in community. Dominique believes those closest to the problem can solve the problem! These can include receiving services, doingcommunity service, or paying a victim to compensate for their financial loss. In 2016,Dominiqueestablished Community Passageways, after multiple gun related deaths and incidents on Rainier Avenue. Working hands-on with those directly impacted, You will learn to innovate and bring forward new solutions that help people adjust. The program, according to Dunn, has a major perception problem as the South King County mayors scramble to mitigate the growing crime in their communities. FIRS and Step Up focus on families experiencing family violence. A bill partially unwinding a 2021 policing reform clears the Legislature. Izzy Eads. Calls to reform the juvenile legal system have increased over the past decade, and RCP is a direct response to the need for systemic change, ensuring youth with lived experience and community members and organizations impacted by these issues are closely engaged with human service providers and government agencies to meet collective goals, including increased public safety and restorative programs. The rise in gun crime has been associated with adults who havent been involved with gun crime before, not kids, Hung said. After citing existing law, the prosecutors office comes to this conclusion in this hypothetical scenario. 1,706 Followers, 64 Following, 49 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Restorative Community Pathways (@restorative_community_pathways) Its quite possible that the treatment that we used wasnt the appropriate treatment. Controversial King County program diverts young offenders from incarceration for certain crimes. Restorative Community Pathways. Youthhave the opportunity tosign out-of-court agreements in lieu of criminal charging and formal court. FAMILY INTERVENTION AND RESTORATIVE SERVICES (FIRS), FIRS is a collaborative intervention and approach to address adolescent family violence in a timely, therapeutic, andtrauma-informed alternative to formal court involvement. The Youth Steering Committee will serve as the community-based decision-making body for RCP design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. At the end of a Thursday in early March, 28 teenagers sat in the King County Juvenile Detention Center on Alder Street in Seattles Central District. Instead of suspensions and expulsions, we strive for restorative and culturally-relevant programming. If a young person goes through programming and they end up slipping back into behavior thats challenging or problematic, then people look at the work and say, Oh, well, this program didnt work, he said. An important thing to note is that the crime rate in the last two years has increased among adults, not children. In particular, it is shockingly irresponsible to remove legal consequences for any firearm-related crime at a time when gun violence is surging to an all-time high. . Under the RCP, the potential school shooter would be referred to one of the community groups such as 180 Collective, which initially proposed RCPs creation. During a Law, Justice, Health and Human Services Committee meeting on March 1, when the proposed motion was brought up, many community members testified against pausing the Restorative Community Pathways program and argued that the program was a necessity in the regions communities. But theyre also overlooked as victims. Crime-conscious mayors criticize King County's juvenile justice program Diversion is a way of addressing an offense at the lowest level possible, allowing a youth to enter into a Diversion Agreement, whichis a legal contract, that requires youth to take steps to be accountable for their actions. The goals of FIRSinclude:decreasing violence in the home,preventing further police contact, and increasing family safety and well-being. Seattle, Washington, United States513 followers 500+ connections. Constantine is proposing cutting $4.6 million in funding that the Sheriffs Office gets from tax on retail marijuana sales. For the same period, 233 juveniles were charged through traditional prosecution, with 47, or just over twenty percent, seeing new case referrals. The goals of FIRSinclude:decreasing violence in the home,preventing further police contact, and increasing family safety and well-being. The proposals, part of the biennial budget that Constantine will present next week, have been spurred by the months of protests against police brutality and systemic racism that have dominated the nation and the region this summer. The final steps toward the goal of ending youth detention by 2025 will require the County to agree to non-detention-based alternatives that can support young people in the most dire circumstances including people for whom the County doesnt see a space in the existing restorative justice programs. Executive Constantine highlights anti-racism and criminal legal system The repurposing is the easier part of the conversation.. Although Dunns motion was shot down five to one during a council meeting on March 1, 2022, Hung wants people to know the facts about the program and how his office is viewing it. Jimmy Hung, chief deputy prosecutor of the King County Prosecuting Attorneys Offices juvenile division, spoke to the thousands of juvenile prosecution referrals his office would typically receive in past years and the difficult decisions he and his office have had to make about when it makes sense to bring a juvenile into the court system. Though some amount of recidivism is unavoidable, the outcomes of the countys diversionary programs have shown some promising improvements. 2020 Reform from Multanomah County Awesome. Sentencing in suitcase murders | Podcast, King County Councilmember proposes regional ban on public drug use, King County Crisis Care Levy passing in first election results, Washingtons COVID-19 exposure notification app to end May 11, Firearms scheme leads to federal charges | King County Crime Dive.