OLYMPIA – The agency that runs the state’s juvenile rehabilitation centers reports that it has improved conditions after an audit showed the facilities have high rates of staff turnover and overcrowding, among other issues.
Although many of the concerns flagged in the state audit released by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee last month have long plagued the facilities, the head of the Department of Children, Youth and Families said Friday the agency has implemented an array of new policies and other changes at Echo Glen Children’s Center in Snoqualmie and Green Hill School in Chehalis to help improve conditions.
Among the changes are a new system for handling rule violations among residents, additional employee training and expanded program offerings, the agency said.
Last summer, the agency also opened a new facility along the Washington coast near Aberdeen called Harbor Heights, which can house up to 32 male residents. Although DCYF runs the facility, it is located in a previously unused building at Stafford Creek Detention Center, an adult correctional facility.
The changes have resulted in a reduced population at Green Hill School and an employee turnover rate of 22.8%, a decline from the 47% previously identified in the report.
Still, the head of DCYF said Friday the agency will need additional legislative action to further improve conditions and address issues at the facilities.
“We cannot do this alone. Addressing overcrowding and increasing rehabilitation require partnership,” DCYF Secretary Tana Senn said in a statement. “We did not wait to act until the report was finalized. However, there are things that can only be solved through legislative intervention.”
The committee audit published last month found that both Echo Glenn and Green Hill have operated above or near their respective in since 2019, when the Legislature approved a collection of changes to the state’s justice system.
Under the changes, young offenders can serve their sentences in the Juvenile Rehabilitation system until they are 25, when they are transferred to a Department of Corrections facility to serve the remainder of their sentence.
For example, under the new system, a 16-year-old who receives a 12-year sentence would serve nine years in a juvenile sentence before serving the remainder of the sentence in an adult correctional facility.
Green Hill School in Chehalis has operated above its safe operating capacity of 180 residents since 2023, according to the audit. According to the agency, 180 residents called the facility home on Thursday.
On average, about 400 residents are housed in the state’s juvenile rehabilitation system daily, a population that has proportionally gotten older since the state’s changes took effect. While 62% of residents in 2018 were under the age of 18, last year just 39% of residents were under 18, while 21% were above the age of 21.
The audit found that both Echo Glenn and Green Hill have seen an increase in safety incidents, including fights, assaults, and contraband, since 2022. According to the audit, the number of incidents at Green Hill increased by more than four times between 2022 and 2024, while incidents at Echo Glen doubled. The number of incidents at Green Hill increased from about 1,100 in 2022 to roughly 5,200 in 2024, while Echo Glen saw an increase from around 1,900 incidents to 3,800 over the same period.
The audit found for every 10 additional residents at Green Hill School each month, the facility saw around six additional assaults or fights and approximately six drug- and alcohol-related incidents.
During a July 15 hearing, Senn said the agency was “thrilled that there’s yet another report that overcrowding is not safe for young people, or for our staff.”
“This is not the first report; it’s not the first time it’s been raised,” Senn said. “So, there are points about the lack of safety for staff and for young people when there’s overcrowding, we completely agree, and we’ve been shouting from the rooftops about that.”
The audit also found that 47% of newly hired frontline staff left within a year, with many citing concerns of feeling unsafe, burnt out or being undertrained.
“Proper and consistent staffing is necessary for safety and security,” the audit states. “Without enough experienced staff, facilities struggle to maintain order, build trust with residents, and effectively deliver rehabilitative programs.”
According to the audit, new frontline staff must now attend a mandatory six-week training, an increase from the five weeks or less they previously underwent.
During the July hearing, Senn said the high turnover rate among staff and increased safety risks are connected, an issue raised in the audit.
“Because we cannot do additional training if there’s so much overcrowding, and it’s unsafe and people won’t stay, and so we don’t have enough staff to go out and do more training because we need them on the floor,” Senn said. “And so these are very interconnected.”
The audit recommended an array of changes to the state’s juvenile rehabilitation system, including increasing capacity, potentially at smaller facilities and community-based services “consistent with other states and best practices.”
The audit also recommended that DCYF match specific programs with each resident’s individual needs.
