Starcia Ague is currently a Youth and Family Advocate Program Administrator with the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services at the Juvenile Justice and Rehabilitation Administration. This is a continuation of Ague's interest in ensuring that Washington's juvenile justice system actively engages incarcerated youth with empowering programs and measures. Her goal of empowering youth is one of the reasons Ague obtained a degree in Criminal Justice from Washington State University in 2010. As a participant in the Washington State Bar Association's Annual Access to Justice Conference, Ague developed and implemented training focused on the importance of advocacy and protecting children's rights in times of economic hardship.
She provided lead testimony for the Second Substitute Senate Bill 6561 that became law in April 2010. The new law affords juvenile offenders the opportunity to overcome their past given consecutive years of exemplary behavior. Ague spoke at the Washington State Juvenile Defense Leadership Summit on the role of juvenile defenders in reform through advocacy efforts aimed at legislative, administrative and court rule procedures. She was the 2009 recipient of Washington State's third annual Spirit of Youth Award. Ague was nominated to the Governor by the Washington State Juvenile Advisory Committee, "in recognition of the importance of the rehabilitative focus of juvenile justice and the power of personal achievement." Starcia serves on the Governor's Washington State Partnership Council for Juvenile Justice. She is the first juvenile ever in Washington State to receive a pardon from the Governor. Starcia was the 2012 Champion for Change Award recipient from the MacArthur Foundation and she has published in the Harvard Educational Review Journal. In 2013, she won the Courage award for public service and was appointed to the Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice. The Open Society Foundation also selected her to be a 2014 SOROS Justice Fellow. A documentary entitled "Starcia" recently won a NW Regional Emmy. To see a promo for the documentary and more visit starciaague.org.