State juvenile-rehabilitation agency: adult-sentence growth, long stays driving overcrowding at Green Hill

The state Department of Children, Youth & Families said Tuesday that longer adult‑sentence stays and a steady rise in adult‑sentence intakes have driven overcrowding at its secure juvenile facilities, complicating rehabilitative programming and staffing.

“For the record, my name is Jennifer Redmond. I'm assistant Secretary of the Juvenile Rehabilitation, DCYF,” Jennifer Redmond said as she opened the agency’s presentation to the legislative committee. She told members that Green Hill School’s population was about 210, with 74 young people holding release dates that extend beyond age 25.

The agency said Green Hill’s safe operating capacity is about 180. Redmond told the committee that because Juvenile Rehabilitation (JR) is a relatively small system, fluctuations in intakes or slower releases have a disproportionate effect on bed availability. “With the length of sentences going up to age 25, it's contributing to the overcrowding,” she said.

Redmond described the security‑classification mix at Green Hill: about 73% of residents are classified maximum security, a status she said reflects sentence length and placement eligibility rather than current behavior. That classification limits step‑down options to community programs, which JR said can create long waits for vocational and education programming.

The agency described a newly opened Harbor Heights facility meant for shorter stays. Harbor Heights can hold up to 46 youths; Redmond said it held 22 at the time of her presentation and that a second wing would open after delivery of a medical trailer. She said Harbor Heights will not be used for direct community intakes; young people will transfer there from Green Hill after initial screenings and assessments.

Redmond described Community Transition Services (CTS), a step‑down model meant to place youth under supervised community conditions. She corrected what she described as a misconception about CTS capacity: JR has served roughly 25 individuals in the program during its first year and does not have capacity to place 50 youth simultaneously on CTS.

Agency witnesses listed operational responses to overcrowding, including temporary support from the Department of Corrections incident command, changes to entry and visitation processes, recruitment and training drives, and a revised behavior‑management system that codifies violations and focuses on restorative approaches. Redmond said those steps have reduced large‑scale aggression, staff injuries and law‑enforcement involvement.

Redmond cited quantitative results the agency attributes to those interventions. She said use‑of‑force incidents at Green Hill fell from about 65 in July 2024 to roughly 19 in July 2025. “We have actually significantly reduced the level of law enforcement involvement and transfers to DOC,” she told the committee.

Lawmakers pressed the agency on measures of rehabilitation. Redmond listed outcomes JR uses to gauge success: high‑school diplomas, vocational certificates, mental‑health stabilization, medication management for acute clients, independent living skills and transition into community facilities.

On capacity planning, the agency said it has requested funding for a medium‑security, mental‑health focused facility (referred to as the Parkland facility in Spanaway) along with additional mental‑health staffing to serve higher‑acuity youth in a less restrictive setting than a secure institution.

What’s next: Redmond said JR will continue to seek resources to expand CTS, staff community placements and complete Harbor Heights’ second wing. The agency asked lawmakers for additional funding to support programming and mental‑health capacity.

Provenance: first related transcript excerpt: "For the record, my name is Jennifer Redmond. I'm assistant Secretary of the Juvenile Rehabilitation, DCYF." (transcript block block_9; tc 00:01:40). Last related excerpt: "Parkland facility in Spanaway, we do have a request..." (transcript block block_52; tc 00:27:47).