Green Hill School staff reported the confiscation of three vape pens to the Chehalis Police Department on Friday, according to a news release from the Washington state Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF).
DCYF manages the Chehalis juvenile rehabilitation (JR) facility.
According to the release, staff found the three vape pens on another staff member as they were entering the facility and passing through security on Aug. 27.
Security staff confiscated the pens and conducted preliminary tests. The next day, Green Hill referred the incident — along with supporting evidence — to the Chehalis Police Department.
"This is an example of how Green Hill partners with the Chehalis Police Department to ensure the safety of young people, staff and the community,” Green Hill Superintendent Harold Wright Jr. said in the Monday release. "We are proud to have staff who are committed to safety and security. Their hard work successfully prevented contraband from coming into our facility.”
The news follows last week’s statement from Chehalis Police Chief Randy Kaut, in which he said DCYF had “referred potential criminal activity involving a staff member to our agency and then refused to provide us with the information necessary to properly conduct an investigation.”
The referral, received by Chehalis police on July 28, reportedly involved a Green Hill staff member “potentially smuggling contraband into the facility and distributing it to residents,” according to the Aug. 25 release from the police department.
According to the release, Green Hill told police to “submit a public records request through DCYF in order to obtain the information needed to assist with the investigation.”
Kaut said his department ultimately had to apply for a search warrant to obtain the relevant records, after its records request was denied by DCYF.
“It is our position that cooperation between our agencies is necessary to ensure the safety of staff and residents inside the facility,” Kaut said.
Nancy Gutierrez, DCYF director of external communications, indicated the hangup came when Chehalis police reached out to JR staff instead of Child Protective Services (CPS) — the DCYF agency that had initiated the case and referred the intake to the police department.
In an Aug. 26 statement to The Chronicle, Gutierrez said the DCYF public records team is required by state law to deny any requests that fall outside of the Public Records Act.
“This request did not fall under the PRA, and our public records staff appropriately referred Chehalis PD to CPS for records about this case," Gutierrez said in an email.
Gutierrez added, “We want to be clear; we are fully reporting to our law enforcement partners.”
