Improving care for youth in custody
All young people should have caring adults, programs to explore their interests and safe places to learn and grow — whether they’re at school, home or King County’s youth detention center.
Investing in youth, wherever they are, is crucial for their future success and contributions to the community. That’s why the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention has made significant improvements for youth at the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center.
Here’s a look at three of those changes, in line with our continued Care & Closure work (King County’s plan to create safe alternatives to youth incarceration) and feedback from youth in detention:
1. Mentorship & Goal Development
Youth in detention have shared that they want to be connected with mentors who understand what they have been through, overcame similar challenges and positively contribute to their communities.
The Juvenile Division partnered with Progress Pushers, a community-based mentoring program for youth involved in the legal system. Progress Pushers staff are at the youth detention center five days a week, providing one-on-one and group sessions that explore self-awareness, future aspirations and life purpose through a structured six-week curriculum. Youth complete packets that outline goals, identify specific steps to meet those goals and resources needed to achieve them.
Progress Pushers are certified Credible Messengers, an extensive training process, and all staff have lived experience in the criminal legal system. In fact, one of the staff members currently working with youth in detention was at the facility as a young person more than a decade ago.
“One thing that stands out about Progress Pushers is that we have all been impacted and have lived experience of being incarcerated as teenagers. I speak for all of us that working with young people who are incarcerated hits our heart in a certain way” said Eddie Purpose, executive director of Progress Pushers. “Behind the bars, we were still instilled things from individuals, many of them who are still incarcerated today, who breathed life into us and helped us think differently. Now we are able to do that for other young people.”
Research shows that Credible Messenger programs like Progress Pushers substantially reduce youth coming back into the legal system and improve youth well-being, including goal attainment, reconnection to their family support system and involvement in social activities.
“We give these young people the art and science of hope. Many of these kids, when you look at the root cause and their traumas, they don’t have hope. Being able to advocate for them and give them the healing engagement and positive reinforcement they need so that they can look at themselves and do something new with their lives — that is the real measure of what we do,” said Cristina Mitchell, a member of the Progress Pushers team working at the detention center.
2. More Program Opportunities
In addition to Progress Pushers, the Juvenile Division is working with five community organizations to provide more programs for youth.
These programs will help expand digital and financial literacy, goal planning and development, exercise and mindfulness and creativity and involvement in the arts. By participating in these programs, youth build a variety of skills, improve self-confidence and mental health and learn healthier ways to be expressive and resolve conflicts.
Youth in detention have shared the need for diverse programming opportunities to help them gain tangible life and communication skills, explore their interests and connect to community resources they can participate in when they leave detention.
The Juvenile Division is in the process of contracting with the organizations, an important investment in the organizations and their leaders, many of whom are community members who have been impacted by incarceration.
3. Secure Computer Tablets
The Juvenile Division rolled out a new program providing youth in custody secure computer tablets.
Youth can now make free calls to their parents or guardians without waiting for a shared phone and have access to a vast library of e-books, podcasts, educational materials, legal research and mental health and substance use resources.
The tablets build on in-person programs by connecting young people with education and resources and allowing youth to communicate more easily with loved ones. They are designed for a secure environment and equipped with security features.
“Getting youth and residents out of their isolation has tremendous benefit toward their mental health, which we believe will benefit their behavior in custody and their interactions toward each other and their interactions with staff,” said Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention Director Allen Nance.
Securus Technologies provided the devices at no cost.
Future Improvements
As part of Care & Closure, we’re improving the care of youth in custody. The Juvenile Division has identified additional areas to support youth: including continuing to expand programs, better access to the outdoors, care navigators to help youth transition out of detention and more support for youth on Electronic Home Monitoring and their families.
These improvements will be considered as part of the budget process over the next several months and will align with feedback from youth.
For more on Care & Closure, visit the website and sign up for updates.
