As shared from Roll Call: the DAJD newsletter, December 2021 – January 2022 issue

Washington state lawmakers signed House Bill 2277 in July 2020, prohibiting the use of solitary confinement statewide.

Pictured: A CFJC workgroup has been meeting weekly to identify policies and practices out of alignment with state legislation surrounding solitary confinement.

While DAJD’s Juvenile Division is already in alignment with the local King County Ordinance No. 18637 passed in December 2017, this new state legislation created new definitions of both “isolation” and “room confinement.” These definitions posed significant challenges to the Juvenile Division as the Restoration Hall, a living hall where youth spend their free time learning behavioral skills after exhibiting challenging behavior, is now considered isolation.

A lean process team was convened consisting of juvenile detention officers, detention supervisors, mental health professionals, program team members, management and Juvenile Detention Guild representatives. They gathered for several weeks to reimagine practices to be in alignment with Washington state legislation. A charter was developed and approved by the project sponsor, Division Director Allen Nance.

The workgroup has been diligently meeting every week in recent months to identify current policies and practices out of alignment with the state legislation, creating new workflow processes, and developing their training plan. Training on the new legislation and restorative practices began in early November.

Pictured: JDO Curtis Delgardo pieces together a workflow.

Members of the workgroup include: JDO Jason Smith, JDO Kevin McAfee, JDO Hammel Bullard, JDO Barbara Camarillo-Vasquez, JDO Curtis Delgardo, Restorative Justice Coordinator Rich Reed, Mental Health Clinician Reina Galvez, Detention Supervisor Belenda Wilson, Detention Supervisor Derek Ander-son, Program Manager Ashley Mareld and Deputy Division Director Quanetta West.