skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina s congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Myorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

King County Committed to New Facility, Decreasing Youth Detentions

play audio
Play

Thursday, March 29, 2018   

SEATTLE – Protests against a new youth detention center in King County continued this week, with opponents blocking the construction site and the office of King County Executive Dow Constantine. Protesters from No New Youth Jail say plans for the new facility run counter to the county's commitment to zero youth detentions.

However, Jimmy Hung, the chief deputy prosecutor with the juvenile division of the King County prosecuting attorney's office, says that goal can't be achieved overnight and that the current facility is run down and needs to be replaced.

"As the chief deputy prosecutor here, I actually believe in zero youth detention," he says. "I think that's something that we should all aspire to. For me, the fact that you have to lock youth up in a secure facility is a sign of an unhealthy community."

Hung says the Child and Family Justice Center, slated to open in 2020, will be a community resource hub for young people. He says his office is already working on diverting as many youths as possible from the juvenile justice system and that a number of pilot programs are underway to achieve this.

Opponents say people of color are over-represented in youth jails, pointing to the fact that half of the incarcerated youths in King County are black, despite making up 13 percent of its population. Hung says his office is also lessening the racial disparities in the juvenile justice system. He adds that decreasing the number of young people in detention centers is going to take long-term planning and work with communities.

"How do we invest in the kid who's being born today so that 14 years from now, they're not committing crimes and having to come to the juvenile court system?" he asks. "So for me, this isn't a sprint. This is a marathon."

The detention center was approved by voters six years ago and will cost $210 million. It's funded through a tax levy, although the language underlying that levy hit a roadblock in a Thurston County court last year.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …


Organizations fighting wage theft said it harms affected workers and surrounding communities because the money withheld is not being circulated through the local economy. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021