On a recent afternoon, a 15-year-old sat nervously in a courtroom at the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center in Seattle. After spending four months in detention, he was pleading guilty to a weapons charge and being released, with conditions, including weekly check-ins with his probation counselor and therapy to address his aggression issues.
That therapy “is one of his overriding needs right now,” the boy’s juvenile probation counselor stressed to the judge.
“The main thing — the most important — is that you do what your JPC tells you, because if you violate that, then you get in more trouble, and you don’t want that. Okay?” the judge said.
“Yes, your honor,” the teen replied solemnly.
RELATED: Washington state and counties square off over juvenile rehabilitation closures
In Washington state, every youth charged with a crime gets a juvenile probation counselor whose job is to figure out how they ended up in trouble — and how to keep them out of it.
In King County, juvenile probation counselors say they are buckling under the weight of unmanageable caseloads following recent budget cuts and an increase in serious youth crime.