It has been over a year since the Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team (JNET) conducted a search of Green Hill School, Washington’s maximum-security juvenile correctional facility. During that search, officers found approximately 1,100 fentanyl pills as well as other contraband, exposing the facility’s serious problems.
According to a press release from Centralia Police, there have been several overdoses among Green Hill residents and, disturbingly, these cases have been handled “internally.”
It is shocking that none of the young people lost their lives during this time.
I am deeply concerned that, despite the shocking discoveries of the last year, almost nothing has changed.
Last year, several staff members were arrested for crimes ranging from sexual misconduct and abuse of residents to selling drugs to them. One staff member was even arrested for turning her back on a resident as he was being attacked by others.
In addition, at least four other staff members were arrested last year for selling drugs to residents and engaging in sexually inappropriate behavior while on the job. Numerous residents have also been arrested for drug-related offenses, highlighting the ongoing crisis at the facility.
Republican Senator John Braun of Centralia, Washington, is 100% correct in calling for a thorough investigation of the institution and its practices. His continued calls for an investigation and reforms are critical to addressing the systemic problems at Green Hill School.
Senator Braun’s efforts to push for accountability and significant change are critical to ensuring the facility can fulfill its intended role in rehabilitating young people rather than perpetuating a cycle of crime and abuse.
In recent years, school staff have been arrested for sexual misconduct with residents, an employee was charged by the FBI for smuggling drugs into the facility, and a multimillion-dollar lawsuit over sexual abuse at Green Hill was settled. There was even a case where an employee sold a resident a firearm that was later used in a drive-by shooting.
And yet, despite all these incidents, meaningful reforms have still not been implemented.
The facility is intended to be a last-ditch effort to rehabilitate juveniles before they are sent to adult prison. But as the level of illegal activity continues unabated, rehabilitation simply does not occur.
How can we expect these young people to change their lives when they are exposed to and become dependent on fentanyl, often provided to them by those who should be keeping them safe?
The young people at Green Hill are being abandoned and denied their chance at rehabilitation.
Green Hill School was designed to give troubled youth hope for the future and help them build better lives. Now is the time for real action and comprehensive reform, not more empty promises.
Bo D. Rupert
Centralia
