King County Pitches Plan To Move $16 Million From Jail Budget

Renton WA

21 April, 2021

7:28 PM

Description

KING COUNTY, WA — A new proposal from King County and Seattle would redirect millions from jail funding toward health and housing programs. King County Executive Dow Constantine, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, and the Seattle City Council put forward the plan, which would move approximately $16 million from the jail budget. "Our work is not done, but this is an important step to decrease reliance on detention and invest in harm reduction and building safe, welcoming communities where every person can thrive," Constantine said. "Undoing racism and supporting healthy communities should not be controversial, and I appreciate the partnership across governments and agencies that is making this possible." In a news release, the county said the proposal is part of Constantine's larger supplemental budget ordinance, sent to the county council in mid-April, and "furthers King County's and Seattle's work to treat racism as a public health crisis and to decrease the population of the jail." Last July, Constantine announced plans to end youth detention in Seattle. A new $242 million facility began operations in early 2020, over staunch opposition from activists. The county's current goal is to end youth detention by 2025, a timeframe that advocates have criticized as lagging. Constantine also announced a planned phase-out of the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle, though a specific closure date has not been set. Under the new spending plan, the $16 million diverted from the jail would help fund new health and housing services focused on communities that are disproportionately placed behind bars. "The new services would focus on health and housing in community settings for residents whose limited access to care is too often criminalized, with a particular focus on racial-ethnic and gender-diverse communities who are disproportionately incarcerated," officials wrote. "The funding for the new services will come from revenue that the City of Seattle pays King County for use of the jail." Several city and county leaders have released statements in support of the proposal, along with the Lavander Rights Project, a legal advocacy group for LGBTQ people. M. Lorena Gonzalez, Seattle City Council President: "The American criminal legal system disproportionately harms our Black and brown neighbors by perpetuating grave injustices, such as disproportionate arrests, bias policing and harsh punishments. In 2017, I sponsored legislation directing the City's Budget Office to review the terms of the City's contract with the King County Jail. My goal was to reduce our reliance on incarceration by increasing investments in housing and health programs that will benefit those most harmed by the carceral system. Today, we take an important step towards progress on that goal."Jeanne Kohl-Welles, King County Council: "As the King County Council's budget chair, I know that the investments that we make at the County level can be transformative for the communities in our region. This reinvestment in community programs and wraparound services rather than in jail costs aims to proactively address the root causes of incarceration rather than simply continue responding to the symptoms. Further, this is an example of the type of interjurisdictional innovation and cooperativeness that is necessary for us to resolve some of the most pressing challenges we face."Jaelynn Scott, Lavender Rights Project: "Lavender Rights Project and leadership from our WA Black Trans Task Force support King County and the City of Seattle's investment in proven alternatives to criminalization, punishment, and policing. The Black Trans community needs more housing and not more jail space. We believe in Housing First as a strategy to disrupt violence against Black Trans people and end the criminalization of Black trans and nonbinary gender identities. This is an initial step towards achieving these goals."