The Center for Children & Youth Justice held their 4th Annual LINC Conference on September 26 at Green River College in Auburn, WA. The conference hosted experts from across the state presenting on youth justice related topics, from education to building resilience. It was an opportunity for system stakeholders, community-based organizations, and community members to learn about services, programs, and trainings aimed at best supporting youth impacted by community violence and the youth legal system. 

The Care First team facilitated a listening session with twenty-five youth and young adults. Participants ranged from 13 to 24 years old, and the majority expressed that they had either been in detention or knew someone who had. Youth were introduced to the proposed alternatives to detention and asked for their feedback, particularly on Community Care Homes (CCH). They discussed a range of topics, including programming that benefits youth, safety for youth in a CCH, and the need for humane treatment of youth regardless of their offense.   

The Team also gave a presentation to a group of system and community attendees on the transition from Care & Closure to Care First. The presentation included the Care First pillars: Connected Communities, Safety as Support, Restorative Accountability, and Foundations for Healing. The presentation discussed the Care & Closure recommendations, the harms of youth detention, and guiding principles for the network of CCH.  

We are always seeking opportunities to share information about this youth legal system transformation work happening in King County. Please let us know if there are conferences or events you would like us to participate in by contacting knsimbi@kingcounty.gov. 

The Working Group’s primary role is to support the development of policies and procedures to shape the pilot, guide program development, and support implementation planning. The Co-Design Group is helping to design program elements to ensure the pilot reflects the voices and needs of youth, families, and communities. Both groups consist of system and community partners with a wide range of expertise relevant to the project. We will be scheduling a few listening, design, and reflection sessions over the next few months. These sessions will be collaborative, discussion-based opportunities to shape key features for the pilot and identify programmatic priorities.  

We look forward to working alongside our community and system partners to create real change for our youth and their families.