$100M Later, Seattle Crime Program Faces Major Questions + WA Parental Rights Fight Heads to SCOTUS

On the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, America remembers the victims of 9/11, the first responders who rushed toward danger and the thousands who have died in the years since from illnesses and injuries associated with the attacks and their aftermath.

The 2026 commemoration included a new moment of silence honoring those who died from 9/11-related illnesses and injuries, adding to the traditional moments marking when the World Trade Center towers were struck and collapsed, the attack on the Pentagon and the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Also on Washington in Focus Daily, a Washington mother is speaking publicly about her family's experience amid a growing national legal fight over parental rights and gender identity.

Jodie Holman says she has not seen her daughter Eleanor since shortly after Thanksgiving 2025. Holman alleges that while the family lived in the Puyallup area, her daughter's school helped connect the teenager with outside organizations that eventually became involved as the family faced a dispute over gender identity, treatment and parental authority.

Holman says her daughter had struggled with serious mental health issues and that the family had already sought individual and family counseling. She says the disagreement eventually contributed to a legal battle over custody and the family's relationship with their daughter.

Jodie and David Holman are supporting parents in International Partners for Ethical Care v. Ferguson, a major Washington parental rights case now before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court has scheduled oral argument for December 7, 2026. The immediate legal question is whether the Washington parents challenging the state laws have Article III standing to bring their constitutional claims.

Finally, Seattle's Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program, known as LEAD, is facing renewed scrutiny over how claims about its success were presented to lawmakers.

The Washington Policy Center argues that inaccurate descriptions of early LEAD research were repeatedly used to promote the Seattle-born criminal justice diversion model to local, state and federal policymakers. WPC says LEAD eventually received nearly $100 million in specifically earmarked federal appropriations and is calling for greater congressional scrutiny of future funding.

One of the central disputes involves the widely cited claim that LEAD produced a 58% reduction in arrests or recidivism. LEAD co-founder Lisa Daugaard has acknowledged that the statistic should not be described as a 58% absolute reduction in arrests, explaining that the underlying research instead found a 58% reduction in the odds of arrest compared with a control group.

Washington Policy Center Director of Public Safety Solutions Eric Zimmerman is calling for organizations receiving federal LEAD funding to provide more public data on participant outcomes, including housing, employment and mortality.

Washington in Focus Daily breaks down the 25th anniversary of 9/11, September 11 first responders, 9/11-related illnesses, Washington parental rights, Jodie Holman, Puyallup, gender identity policy, International Partners for Ethical Care v. Ferguson, the U.S. Supreme Court, SCOTUS, Seattle LEAD, criminal justice diversion, federal taxpayer funding, Eric Zimmerman, Lisa Daugaard and the latest Washington state news.

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