October 2023 Care & Closure Monthly Newsletter

A Message from our Care & Closure Project Team

Care & Closure: a plan for youth healing, accountability, and community safety. This is King County’s effort to expand community-based alternatives to secure youth detention and close the youth detention center – centered on youth well-being and care, accountability, and community safety. We share project updates and upcoming opportunities to be involved in the effort each month. 

Join the Advisory Committee Meeting Mark your calendar for our next Advisory Committee meeting on Monday, October 23 from 4 to 6 pm. The meeting will be virtual and open to the public. You can find more information about the meeting and previous meetings on the Care & Closure website.   In June 2023, the Advisory Committee launched subcommittees to bring in more unique perspectives to this work and develop recommendations. The subcommittees are now refining the recommendations, and we are grateful for all the subcommittee members who dedicate several hours a month to create important community-based alternatives to secure youth detention. Join the Advisory Committee meeting on Monday to hear the latest from the subcommittees.

Partnerships to Center Impacted Communities Throughout this project, we’ve partnered with and funded community organizations that support impacted youth, families, and harmed parties to elevate their input and center their experiences. We recently held listening sessions with Cocreative Culture at Highline College (see the photo on the right from Cocreative Culture) and feedback sessions with Progress Pushers and Win Regardless.  We love brainstorming solutions with community members, especially youth, and we appreciate all our community partners! You can learn more about what impacted community members are saying on our website.

Follow Us on Instagram Do you follow the King County Department of Community & Human Services (DCHS) Instagram account?  Check out our latest posts about the work we do in our department. This includes Care and Closure Highlights with quotes from youth in detention, information about King county’s Commitment, and more! Follow DCHS to stay informed.

Catch Up on Our Interim Progress Report

In August 2023, we highlighted our interim progress report on Care & Closure and  how we are imagining a more robust continuum of care to meet the needs of youth and their families. You can check out the Care & Closure Initiative: Executive Summary and dive into the Care & Closure Initiative: Full Report. The King County Council’s Law, Justice, Health, and Human Services Committee discussed the report on Tuesday, October 3. This Tuesday, October 17, the full Council discussed the report and approved the receipt of the report. Check out the Council’s staff report on the progress report and the discussion.