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Washington Supreme Court symposium urges survivor‑centered reforms, highlights gaps in victim services
Summary
Presenters at a Washington Supreme Court Minority and Justice Commission symposium urged the courts and policymakers to expand survivor choice and supports, citing high unmet need for victim services, large funding shortfalls and models — including trauma recovery centers and restorative justice — that aim to center survivors’ agency.
The Washington Supreme Court’s Minority and Justice Commission convened legal practitioners, advocates and survivors to examine how the criminal legal system responds to people harmed by violence and to urge policies that expand survivors’ choices and access to care.
The program opened with co‑chair Rebecca Glasgow and a panel of six presenters who described recurring problems: survivors frequently receive little notice of case outcomes, victim services are underfunded or inaccessible, and the system too often treats survivors as passive witnesses rather than people with distinct needs and preferences. "Safety is about healing," Aswad Thomas, vice president of Just Safe and national director of Crime Survivors Speak, said in his presentation about the organization’s multi‑year surveys of victims’ views.
Why it matters: Presenters tied those service shortfalls to policy and budget choices. Rami Al Harib, a restorative justice facilitator and former King County official, told the court that in a roughly $63 million local rehabilitation budget only about 14% went to crime victims (about $8.8 million by the figures he gave), while federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding for Washington fell sharply between 2018 and 2024, reducing hotlines, shelter capacity and advocacy services.
What's proposed: Panelists described scalable alternatives and program models. Thomas promoted trauma recovery centers (TRCs) — coordinated, trauma‑informed "one‑stop" service hubs — and said his group counts 57 TRCs in 18 states. Dr. Carolyn West and presenters described Survivors 1st, a King County diversion/referral effort that screens certain survivor‑defendants for services and warm handoffs to the YWCA instead of prosecution; panelists said about 239 cases were referred in 2024 and the YWCA reported serving more than 140 women in the year cited.
Restorative justice and tribal responses: Collective Justice co‑directors Martina Cartman and Sean Coiano urged courts to allow survivor choice, describing restorative justice circles and prison‑based dialogues that center survivors’ questions and material needs. Vicki Lowe of the American Indian Health Commission urged the court to account for intergenerational trauma: she described broken treaties, boarding‑school harms and chronic underfunding of tribal health services, and cited data shown to the court that she characterized as demonstrating dramatically higher suicide and overdose losses for American Indian and Alaska Native people.
Court role and next steps: Speakers repeatedly asked the justices to use the court’s rule‑making and interpretive authority to expand meaningful notification, participation and practical supports for survivors. Rami Al Harib said those interpretive changes can affect every lower‑court courtroom in the state; the court’s chief justice closed by urging participants to convert conversation into action.
The commission announced a future symposium theme on the history and erasure of queer BIPOC identity and recognized retiring scholars and justices before adjourning.
