WFSE: ‘Capacity, not closures’

Budget proposes to cut two DOC reentry centers, Bellingham and Ahtanum View

OLYMPIA, WA (January 21, 2025) — The Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE), AFSCME Council 28 is sounding the alarm on proposed closures of reentry centers in Bellingham and Yakima Valley (Ahtanum View). The union is calling on labor supporters to contact their legislators and urge them to keep these vital institutions open.

At Department of Corrections’ reentry centers, WFSE members help incarcerated individuals make the jump from living in prison to lives in our communities. They’re designed to give people a second chance, and a real shot at a successful life after incarceration. WFSE points out that research shows such reentry centers both reduce recidivism and are cost effective; closures would remove a successful tool for helping incarcerated individuals, and sever established community connections for residents at these reentry centers.

“We prepare folks to be good neighbors,” said Brian Parks, a Community Corrections Officer and WFSE member. “They’re learning that we’re in their corner, and it just makes it a whole great transition for them. It’s not a scary time.”

Per WFSE, within the last five years, DOC has searched for sites for an additional four reentry centers, totaling 200 beds. Since then, only one site has been opened, in Wenatchee, and two centers in King County run by external organizations have closed. The current capacity is 778 in reentry centers. There were about 1300 individuals on a waitlist for reentry center space as of 2019, and there are about 13,500 individuals currently incarcerated in Washington state.

TAKE A STAND: send an email to your legislators today urging them to keep reentry centers open.