Senate Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, has renewed calls for “drastic reform” at Green Hill School in Chehalis following new reporting by FOX13 further highlighted safety and security concerns at the facility.
“At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Green Hill School needs drastic reform to ensure
the safety of the inmates and staff who must live and work in what has become an increasingly
dangerous environment,” Braun said in a statement Wednesday. “Despite claims by DCYF and the governor that improvements have been made, video footage made public in news reports prove that their efforts have failed.”
The statement by Braun comes after a summer in which the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) temporarily suspended new entries into both Green Hill and Echo Glen Children’s Center in Snoqualmie and transferred 43 inmates into the Department of Corrections (DOC) amid rising concerns of overpopulation.
The move was later blocked by a Thurston County judge, however, who found the agency failed to follow its protocol in transferring the residents. In an Aug. 9 announcement, DCYF said intakes into Echo Glen in Snoqualmie began “a few weeks ago” and Green Hill School in Chehalis would begin intakes that day.
"We appreciate the counties’ engagement on this difficult situation,” the agency said in an Aug. 9 statement. “Because the population at Green Hill remains significantly above capacity, our focus will continue to be the safety of staff and young people at our facility."
The transfer caught state lawmakers off guard, with state Sen. Matt Boehnke, R-Kennewick, who sits on the Senate committee that oversees the state’s correctional system, writing in a statement he felt “blindsided” by the decision.
"We are tracking this issue closely. Children's safety in our state's agencies is a high priority. It is our state's responsibility to protect children in juvenile facilities," Boehnke said in a July 23 statement. “The complete disregard of due process and notice is a real concern.”
In recent weeks, calls for DCFY Secretary Ross Hunter to leave his post have grown louder. On July 25, Rep. Mari Leavitt, D-University Place, tweeted that Hunter should resign from DCYF.
“His handling of the movement of folks from Green Hill, lack of support of social workers when confronted with violence, lack of vision of planning for additional juvenile facilities, etc.,” Leavitt posted. “There's a lack of leadership that is needed.”
At least four Green Hill School corrections employees have been fired and arrested this year for alleged felony offenses that occurred at the Chehalis facility.
The alleged offenses include selling meth and other contraband to an inmate, an inappropriate relationship with a former inmate, prison riot, abuse of office and fourth-degree conspiracy to commit assault and possession of marijuana in the facility.
Overcrowding at Green Hill School has long been cited among the reasons for a rise in crime at the facility, which have included drug possession, assault and other felony charges.
The Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team served a warrant at the facility in August 2023 and seized evidence stored in lockers.
According to Hunter, the population at Green Hill increased from 150 residents in 2023 to 240 residents in June 2024, which is 30% above capacity. Youth Rehabilitation facilities in Washington saw considerable growth after state law allowed some minor offenders to serve their sentences at the facilities.
According to DCYF, 228 aggressive acts have occurred in state juvenile rehabilitation facilities since January.
“The state of Washington has a duty to keep the youth at Green Hill safe and provide them with
tools to lead a better life when they are released. That is not happening,” Braun said Wednesday. “The crisis at Green Hill and throughout our juvenile justice system is a direct result of unworkable policies pushed by the Democratic majority and a hands-off governor who is less concerned about the well-being of inmates and staff than avoiding honest news coverage of his agencies’ failures.”
In early July, DCYF announced that Gov. Jay Inslee authorized the agency to “immediately” begin considering options for a “small, medium security facility” amid overpopulation concerns.
According to a DCYF spokesperson, the agency plans to open a new medium security facility with up to 16 beds in unincorporated “urban” Pierce County to house young offenders with “severe mental health, behavioral health needs.”
In an interview with The Chronicle, the spokesperson said the department has identified a site and is working to finalize a lease agreement on the building.
In an interview with The Chronicle, Allison Krutsinger, director of public affairs for DCYF, said the new facility would differ from the Naselle Youth Camp in Pacific County, which legislators opted to close in the 2022 session. When operational, the medium-security facility provided education and treatment for around 80 male offenders.
At the time, a spokesperson for Gov. Jay Inslee said the facility’s location made it “difficult and sometimes impossible to provide the full range of juvenile rehabilitation services that are necessary” for reentry after a sentence.
During the upcoming legislative session, Krustsinger said the agency planned to ask for additional funding for “mental health staff, mental health resources” and money for programming and educational opportunities.
“Democrats continue to fail to protect people from violent crime – in and out of our juvenile
justice facilities. Washington was just named the most dangerous state in the country.
Democrats can’t enable criminal and violent behavior and claim they are working to improve
public safety,” Braun said Wednesday. “Their policies have undermined it.”
For months, Braun and Inslee have sparred over Green Hill and JR to 25, legislation that allows some young offenders to remain at the facility longer.
Passed by the Legislature in 2018, JR to 25 allows those sentenced in adult court for crimes committed under 18 to serve time in juvenile rehabilitation facilities such as Green Hill until they are 25.
In a February letter to Inslee obtained by The Chronicle, Braun called for a “complete and credible investigation into the staff, policies, procedures and executive mismanagement” at Green Hill School in Chehalis.
In a response to Braun, Inslee wrote that the agency had recently implemented several new safety protocols.
“I have a strong interest in ensuring a safe environment for Green Hill School’s youth and employees, and promoting positive rehabilitation outcomes for the youth at all our juvenile rehabilitation facilities,” Inslee wrote on Feb. 22. “I cannot imagine anyone whose heart does not break at the news of a young person — whatever their circumstances — grappling with substance use issues or trying to escape a dangerous cycle of violence.”
