EVERETT, Wash. – The Snohomish County Council approved a motion today for an agreement between the county and the City of Seattle for jail services. The agreement allows the Snohomish County jail to accept post-conviction misdemeanant inmates from Seattle (who meet booking restrictions and standards) for housing.
The agreement includes language that the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, which runs jail operations, will take steps to lessen the likelihood that contract inmates will end up homeless in Snohomish County. In addition, representatives from the Sheriff’s Office and the City of Everett (where the jail is located) will meet 90 days after the contract is implemented to review the impact the out-of-county contract has on homeless populations within the city.
In January 2014, the county canceled all out-of-county contracts in order to reduce the inmate population and implement several changes to improve safety for inmates and jail staff. Changes made at the jail since the end of 2013 include:
• Addition of medical staff
• Creation of a citizen’s advisory board
• Implementation of inmate screening at booking, including medical and mental health evaluations
• Development of an inmate medical and/or mental health release plan
The Sheriff’s Office has also launched several initiatives to address homelessness and untreated addiction and/or mental illness in the county:
• Sheriff Ty Trenary created the Office of Neighborhoods to connect with homeless and vulnerable populations by directing them to services, rather than incarceration. The unit is assisted by a Law Enforcement Embedded Social Worker (LEESW) who helps navigate the social service network.
• Working with the City of Everett’s “Safe Streets Initiative,” jail staff and social services staff created “ChART” (the Chronic Utilizer Alternative Response Team) to address frequent utilizers of jail and social services.