2023 Revised Code of Washington › Title 13 - Juvenile Courts and Juvenile Offenders › Chapter 13.22 - Juvenile Solitary Confinement. › 13.22.020 - Juvenile solitary confinement prohibited—Exceptions.

RCW 13.22.020
Juvenile solitary confinement prohibited—Exceptions.
(1) The use of solitary confinement for juveniles in a detention facility or institution is prohibited.
(2) A juvenile may only be placed in isolation or room confinement in a detention facility or institution as authorized in this section.
(a)(i) Total isolation and room confinement of a juvenile shall be limited in duration to no more than four hours in any twenty-four hour period. Detention facilities and institutions can exceed those four hours, including if the extension is necessary due to subsequent or multiple incidents, if the following requirements are met:
(A) The reason for isolation or room confinement is documented, including the basis for the extension, the date and time the juvenile was first placed in isolation or room confinement, and when the juvenile is eventually released from isolation or room confinement;
(B) An individualized plan that includes the goals and objectives to be met in order to reintegrate the juvenile to the general population is developed;
(C) The detention facility or institution superintendent or his or her designee provides documented authorization every four hours thereafter.
(ii) A medical and mental health assessment may occur after the juvenile's release so as not to extend his or her time in isolation or confinement.
(iii) If the total isolation or room confinement exceeds twenty-four hours, then the secretary, or his or her designee, of the department or the juvenile court administrator must provide documented authorization.
(b) Each juvenile placed in isolation or room confinement shall be visually checked at least every fifteen minutes, and staff shall attend to the needs of the juvenile at that time. Staff shall attempt to communicate with an awake juvenile during required checks to evaluate and encourage the juvenile on the goals and objectives the juvenile needs to achieve in order to be released from isolation or room confinement.
(c) Every instance of isolation and room confinement shall be documented in accordance with RCW 13.22.040 or 13.22.050.
(d) When a juvenile is placed in isolation or under room confinement, the juvenile must have access to:
(i) Clothing;
(ii) Mattress and bedding;
(iii) Medication under staff supervision;
(iv) A toilet and sink at least hourly;
(v) A bath or shower at least daily;
(vi) Necessary mental health services; and
(vii) Reading material, paper, writing material, envelopes, and treatment material, unless precluded by suicide precaution level or the items would hinder staff efforts to resolve the problems that caused isolation or room confinement.
(e) Staff must remove the juvenile from isolation and room confinement when one of the following requirements is met:
(i) The purpose of the confinement is met;
(ii) The desired behavior is evident; or
(iii) The juvenile has been evaluated by a professional who has determined the juvenile is no longer an imminent risk to self, staff, or the general population. The institution or detention facility may designate who counts as a professional.
(f) Isolation can be used when:
(i) Isolation is necessary to prevent imminent harm based on the juvenile's behavior, and less restrictive alternatives were unsuccessful;
(ii) The juvenile needs to be held in isolation awaiting transfer of facilities;
(iii) The juvenile needs to be placed in isolation overnight due to disruptive behavior that prevents the nighttime routine of other juvenile residents; or
(iv) It is necessary to respond to an escape attempt.
(g) Room confinement can be used when it is necessary to prevent behavior that causes disruption of the detention facility or institution, but the behavior does not rise to the level of imminent harm including, but not limited to, behavior that may constitute a violation of law.
(3) Nothing in this section requires that juveniles be placed with adults while in custody.
[ 2020 c 333 § 3.]