Snohomish County is at risk of losing a valued service for youth in our community. Gov. Gregoire’s budget proposes to eliminate funding for TeamChild, a program providing critical legal services for at-risk youth.
Here in Snohomish County, TeamChild has been invaluable. It provides free legal representation to youth involved in the juvenile court system to help them secure basic necessities in the community, such as safe and stable housing, medical care and educational services. By doing so, TeamChild provides our juvenile court with cost-effective alternatives to detention.
Four years ago, TeamChild’s Snohomish County office was in its last year of grant funding. Because of the program’s success in keeping youth out of the justice system, community stakeholders and local legislators led the charge for state funding to continue. It’s time for us to take action again to save this proven program.
In these challenging times, I understand the Legislature must make difficult choices, but cutting programs that actually save money simply doesn’t make sense. TeamChild has been evaluated by the Washington State Institute for Public Policy and an independent evaluator commissioned by the Governor’s Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee. These studies found the program to be effective and to save taxpayer dollars. Every dollar invested in TeamChild saves the justice system two dollars.
We cannot afford to cut programs like TeamChild that save us money. I urge the Legislature to maintain full funding for TeamChild. Without TeamChild, our county’s most vulnerable youth will have nowhere to turn.
Mike Cooper, Chair
Snohomish County Council
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