Head of WA DCYF responds to calls to resign in interview

Ross Hunter Interview with Matt Smith

The head of Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) is facing growing calls to resign including state legislators, union staff and the governor’s own advisory board on juvenile justice. DCYF Secretary Ross Hunter sat down with FOX 13 to discuss recent actions he’s taken as others question whether he’s the right man for the job.

OLYMPIA, Wash. - The head of the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) is facing growing calls to resign, including from state legislators, union staff and the governor’s own advisory board on juvenile justice.

Amid a population crisis, DCYF Secretary Ross Hunter sat down with FOX 13 Seattle to discuss recent actions he’s taken as others question whether he’s the right man for the job.

DCYF’s crisis became visible in early July when the agency announced its juvenile detention facilities were too full, and that counties would have to begin housing juveniles convicted of crimes while DCYF sought relief.

Then, it made moves that landed the agency in court. A judge ruled that DCYF had maneuvered the crisis in a way that upended its own legal settlements in the past.

The population concerns come with larger fears of fights, drugs, and a lack of services behind bars. Current and former workers at Green Hill – the facility for Washington’s oldest juvenile inmates – have voiced concern for their own safety, questioning whether it was possible to rehabilitate young adults in a facility.

One employee compared DCYF to an out-of-control train, running down a track – stating that juvenile rehabilitation is unrecognizable compared to what it once was.