Contrary to Frightening Predictions

State Juvenile Offender Population Drops

In the mid-90s, nationally noted criminologists warned of the coming wave of "Super-Predator" violent youth.  They predicted that by the year 2010, there would be an additional 270,000 serious violent offenders.  Their assumptions were based primarily on a current demographic bubble where today our population has more 16 and 17-year-old boys than in previous decades.

Fortunately, this crime wave of violent youth never materialized.  Not only did we not experience the predicted apocalyptic flood of "super-predators," the opposite happened:  Washington State's juvenile institutions, which are run by the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration (JRA), saw a dramatic decrease in population, from 1,350 in 1998 to only 700 today.

On a recent visit to Echo Glen, a juvenile rehabilitation facility located near the junction of I-90 and Highway 18, Dan Satterberg and Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney (DPA) Wyman Yip (head of the PAO's Juvenile Section) met with JRA Secretary John Clayton and Echo Glen Superintendent Don Mead to find out why.

Secretary Clayton and Superintendent Mead credit the team of therapeutic counselors at Echo Glen, who have developed a successful model of diagnosis and treatment for the kids committed to the facility.  These counselors work intensively with offenders to help them develop impulse control and to learn how to avoid the factors that led them to criminal behavior.  Many offenders also receive mental health and substance abuse treatment while in the facility.

While some juvenile offenders will, unfortunately, graduate to adult crime, many more will graduate from high school and lead productive lives, thanks to the support they received from the dedicated counselors and therapists at Echo Glen.

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