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At Least 11 Dead After Severe Flooding Sweeps The South; Hundreds Of Thousands Without Power; Abandoned Mine Land program frozen as Appalachia faces severe flooding; Solar power gives MN resort new blood, new life.

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Parents of children in WA prisons face 'unbearable' holiday season

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Monday, December 16, 2024   

The holiday season is a difficult time of year for families with children in Washington's youth detention centers. Families have limited access to children in prisons.

Rashida Robbins has a child in Green Hill School, a 180-bed facility in Chehalis. She said families were invited to holiday dinners in early December but noted it was long before Christmas and on that day, she said, there will be a hole in her home that cannot be filled.

"It's pretty tough, and the lack of access to him during these times makes it even tougher," Robbins explained. "The thought of him just sitting in a locked room makes it unbearable as a parent. It's really rough."

Gov. Jay Inslee has announced a proposal for a new youth facility to address overcrowding, specifically at Green Hill. Organizations, including Kids Are Kids and TeamChild, have criticized the plan, saying it does not address the current concerns at Green Hill.

Stacy Stanaway said unaddressed issues have been the case for her son, who suffered from behavioral challenges before he was sent to Green Hill. She added a disciplinary action meant she was not able to visit for the family holiday earlier in the month.

"We can't just isolate people from their family, from their community and expect things to just go away," Stanaway argued. "And so, with my son the holidays especially are really, really difficult for us because he has younger siblings, he has older siblings."

A spokesperson for Green Hill said because the holiday event involved a high number of visitors, the behavior expectations leading up to the event were "no physical aggression and drug use 30 days in advance" for safety reasons.

Stanaway acknowledged much of the healing for her boy will have to happen after he comes back from the youth facility.

"It's going to be a phase and a period of time that's going to take years, in reality, of recovery for my child," Stanaway stressed. "I feel that time is paused right now."

Robbins added sometimes, it feels like kids are never meant to get out of a facility like Green Hill. She implores state leaders to do something.

"I would challenge the people that have the power to make changes to do so and be on the right side of history," Robbins concluded.


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