Thurston County ends nonprofit-operated juvenile diversion program after 46 years
Thurston County has ended a local nonprofit’s successful juvenile offender diversion program in favor of an in-house program.
Community Youth Services’ contract with the county concluded on Dec. 31, according to a Tuesday news release. This brought an end to a 46-year-old program that has helped over 22,000 low-level juvenile offenders address their wrongdoing and avoid the criminal justice system.
Derek Harris, Chief Executive Officer of CYS, said the program succeeded thanks to leadership from employees and community volunteers who believe young people deserve a restorative justice process.
“The success rate of the program (96% completed the program) has helped to ensure that young people who have offended understood the impact of their action and that this process will likely ensure they do not have recidivism,” Harris said in the release.
The program ended because the Thurston County Board of Judges and Juvenile Court declined to renew the contract with CYS. The release says declining referrals from the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office factored into the decision.
Referrals have steadily decreased over the last decade. In 2011, the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office referred 502 cases to the diversion program, Ted Bryan, Juvenile Court Administrator, told The Olympian. By 2021, he said the program only received 62 referrals.
The Prosecuting Attorney’s Office acknowledged the declining caseloads in a statement to The Olympian. Spokesperson Tara Tsehlana said the decline led the office to reduce the number of deputy prosecuting attorneys assigned to its juvenile team.
“COVID also impacted the number of referrals as many eligible cases were backlogged, though that is less of an issue now that we are working through the backlog of cases,” Tsehlana said.
Rather than continue this program, Juvenile Court intends to conduct its own diversion proceedings. In the release, Bryan said the court will still partner with CYS to help connect young people with services.
“CYS has run an incredible service for our community for decades, and the contract end is no reflection on the Juvenile Diversion program and team housed at CYS,” Bryan said.
The county paid for its contract with CYS using funds from the Washington state Block Grant that Juvenile Court receives to provide direct youth services, Bryan said. The contract cost was $105,598 in 2022, $103,880 in 2021 and $101,843 in 2020.
Going forward, Bryan said the county will use the Block Grant funds to pay for its in-house program. No other county in Washington state outsources its diversion services, he added.
CYS has operated Thurston County’s Juvenile Diversion Unit since 1978. This “restorative justice” program works by connecting first-time and minor offenders with those most affected by their behavior in a “non-adversarial process.”
Through the process, juveniles may face accountability and repair the damage caused by their offense. In addition to staff members, the program relied on citizen volunteers.
“The volunteers provide an avenue for expressing to the youth the impact their crime has on the victim, the community and society,” the release says.
A Community Accountability Board included five trained volunteers who heard cases from the perspective of the juvenile and the victim. They would ultimately decide on a contract requiring the juvenile to restore what they had taken from the community.
The new in-house diversion program will be based on the same “restorative justice” model as was the CYS program, Bryan told The Olympian.
“Our program will include a Trauma Informed Response with youth and families as a key element of all interventions, both in accountability and intervention programming,” Bryan said.
For its part, the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office does not anticipate major changes to how and when it chooses to divert cases to the new program.
“Our office values restorative justice-based diversion programs and will continue to use them for appropriate cases as much as possible,” Tsehlana said.
CYS is a child welfare nonprofit organization that has operated in the Pacific Northwest since 1970. The release says they have helped over 6,500 young people across South Puget Sound.
This story was originally published January 4, 2023 at 10:29 AM.
