King County’s controversial Juvenile Justice Center to open Feb. 18

SEATTLE — King County’s controversial new Juvenile Justice Center opened its doors for public tours Wednesday, offering access inside cells that will soon house incarcerated youth.

The emphasis in the new Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center at 1211 East Alder St. is on service to youth and their families in an art-filled new facility.

A total of 137,000 square feet are dedicated to 10 new courtrooms, a resource center, a free clothing shop and day care and more -- to offer a more rehabilitative approach to juvenile justice.

Chief Juvenile Judge Judith Ramseyer told KIRO 7 the facility’s planners heard the protests of many in the community opposed to any new juvenile jail and created a space that's more than just a detention center. “What you heard was, ‘If you build it they will come,” Ramseyer said of the protesters’ message. “I don’t think anyone working in the court system has ever taken that attitude that we want to increase the number of youth in detention. We’ve worked very hard over a long period of time to reduce those numbers and we’re continuing in that direction.”

However, community activist Sean Goode believes the 112 beds in the 92,000 square feet of detention space are not much of an improvement over the old jail.

“It’s bright. It’s brilliant. Here’s art that’s decorating the walls. You almost forget that you’re in a place that imprisons young people,” Goode said after touring the facility Wednesday. “As you go downstairs, you see the brand new metal detector and you see where young people are detained while they’re being admitted to the space. It’s harsh.”

Goode works for Choose 180, a nonprofit that partners with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to keep youth out of the criminal justice system. He believes the focus of the juvenile justice system should be more preventive and health-care based, not incarceration-based, describing the new CFJC as “a facility that locks up young people.”

Sources inside King County’s juvenile justice system also expressed concerns to KIRO 7 that the basketball court inside the new facility is half-court, not the full basketball court currently in use at the old facility on Alder.

When asked by KIRO 7 about the smaller space, Allen Nance, director of King County’s Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention said, “While we will miss having a full court gymnasium, we are confident that we will still be able to engage people in a meaningful way with large muscle activity in this space, despite the fact it’s a smaller footprint.”

The entire project cost $242 million.

Legal proceedings will begin in the new courtrooms Feb. 18. County officials say the approximately 32 youth currently being detained at the old facility will move into the new CFJC over Presidents’ Day weekend.

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