By Marcus Hochstetler
Youth provides many opportunities for growth and an equal number of pitfalls. The pitfalls can become legal issues crossing many areas, including healthcare, education, family life, criminal activity and basic rights. While these issues are varied, their impact upon legal systems can be complex. With this in mind, the King County Superior Court, in conjunction with the King County Office of Management and Budget, convened a work group in 2005 to prepare an Operational Master Plan and a subsequent Facilities Master Plan examining how King County can prepare for the future.
The court’s Targeted Facilities Master Plan (FMP) effort is focused on the facility needs for the resolution of legal disputes involving children and families. The Law Library has been grateful to be a participant in this process, along with many other interested groups that support the court’s operations and are interested in creating a space where young people and their families are handled with care.
According to the FMP Web site, http://www.metrokc.gov/dcfm/master plan:
The Operational Master Plan was completed and adopted by the [King County] Council on September 25, 2006. Contained within the OMP are eleven recommendations which outline a strategy for more effectively resolving problems of children and families that are referred to court. Some of these recommendations involve changes to operations or internal court administration/governance; others imply additional capital expansion or improvement. In particular, it is anticipated that recommendations 5, 6, 7, 8 and 11 will require significant facility improvements. The 11 recommendations are as follows:
- Coordinate Court and Service Responses to Families Involved in Multiple Court Cases
- Improve Litigant Information and Assistance
- Reduce Case Processing Delays
- Optimize Therapeutic Courts
- Provide Case-Related Services On-Site
- Establish within the Court Facility Screening, Assessment, and Linkages to Community-Based Social and Treatment Services
- Provide a Safe and Secure Environment for Litigants, Public, Court and Court-related Staff
- Improve Facility Accessibility
- Assure Cultural Competency
- Optimize Technology
- Provide Facilities that Meet the Needs Identified Above
Even as discussions are occurring among steering and work group members, the focus remains on the ultimate benefit for families and youth who come through the system. These are the same youth and families who come through our doors every day looking for answers to basic questions. In many cases, they are seeking access to legal forms or an understanding of the process that entangles them.
For these situations, we have resources that deal with the topics mentioned above. I encourage you to go to our Web site at www.kcll.org, open our catalog and type in the word “youth” or “juvenile” to view the materials we have available.
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Marcus Hochstetler is the King County Law Librarian. Please direct comments or questions to him at 206-296-0940 or marcus.hochstetler@metrokc.gov.
