40 years of helping troubled youths

Published 9:32 am Thursday, October 2, 2008

For more than four decades, Echo Glen Children’s Center has pursued its mission of helping troubled, incarcerated youth find a better path.

2007 marked the 40th anniversary of Echo Glen, a juvenile rehabilitation center run by the state of Washington, nestled in a wooded area just south of Snoqualmie Ridge.

Today home to 180 young residents, ages 10 to 18, Echo Glen provides treatment and programs for youth to educate them and turn them back into productive members of society. While fences surround the maximum security areas, the campus itself isn’t walled or fenced.

Echo Glen Superinten-dent Don Mead said it’s the caring of the staff, more than anything, that keeps children from running away.

The average stay for a child at Echo Glen is about a year.

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