February 17, 2012: California lawmakers should phase out the state’s youth prison system and begin housing and treating all juvenile offenders in county programs, according to recommendations released Wednesday by the state Legislative Analyst’s Office, and published in today's Bay Citizen in a story by Trey Bundy.
Citing “merit on both policy and fiscal grounds,” the report urged the Legislature to develop funding proposals that would support Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to stop sending youth to the Division of Juvenile Justice next year. The plan — which seeks to close the prisons altogether by 2015 — would make California first in the nation to eliminate state-run youth prisons...
David Steinhart, director of the Commonweal Juvenile Justice Program in Marin County, applauded the LAO report, calling it “a road map for the final realignment of youth prisons in California.”
“In this final round of DJJ shutdown, we’ve had a lack of detail and a lack of a comprehensive plan,” Steinhart said. “The LAO has taken the governor’s plan and organized it and formatted it for getting the state out of the youth prison system.”...
Comments