A message from Chair Deborah Kafoury
Late Tuesday afternoon we received information that demonstrators who have protested outside several Portland public safety buildings may be planning to gather outside the Donald E. Long Juvenile Detention Center tonight.
There are 38 young people inside the building who have experienced trauma and difficulty in their lives that they are working through. There are also youth who are not in custody at all, but living in a residential shelter within the building. Please consider the kids and their parents.
We want to discuss ways that we can work together on public safety reform and reducing racial disparities. This detention center no longer houses the hundreds of young people it once did. Multnomah County has led the state in efforts to reduce the number of incarcerated youth for decades. We are a national leader in the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, and led the effort that resulted in statewide juvenile justice reform in last year’s Legislative Session. We created and continue to fund programs like the Community Healing Initiative and the Schools Uniting Neighborhoods program, which directly supports at-risk youth and families.
The health and emotional well-being of young people in this facility - from Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington Counties - is our number one priority.