How King County invested in juvenile justice programs, and then checked out
King County launched its Restorative Community Pathways Program in 2021. Its goal is to reduce the number of young people sent into the court system.
Instead, it connects youths accused of lower-level crimes with community groups for rehabilitation.
Restorative Community Pathways has received millions of dollars in King County funding, but when KUOW investigative reporter Ann Dornfeld took a deeper look, she found the county has only loosely tracked how the nonprofits involved serve kids, and can’t say how many youth have completed diversions.
Records are also sketchy for another county crime prevention program – the goal of which is to prevent youth gun violence.
Read the full story here and listen to the full interview above.
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Libby Denkmann
Host, Soundside
Libby Denkmann joined KUOW in December 2021 as the host of the midday show Soundside. She’s a native Pacific Northwesterner who grew up in Redmond, graduated from the University of Washington, and covered local news as a producer and reporter with KIRO Radio.
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Ann Dornfeld
Reporter
Ann is a reporter on KUOW's Investigations Team. Previously, she covered education stories for KUOW for a decade, with a focus on investigations into racial and socioeconomic inequities.
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Noel Gasca
General Assignment Reporter
Noel is a general assignment reporter for KUOW, covering everything from city hall to pickleball. Prior to joining the newsroom, Noel worked as a producer for KUOW’s midday show Soundside. Noel has also worked as an online editor and producer with KUOW’s web team, and she’s also a proud graduate of KUOW’s RadioActive program.
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