ARTICLE TAG

California Youth Authority

6/6/2023

‘The Darkest Part of the Tunnel’

How a stack of letters from incarcerated kids spurred a decades-long fight to reform and ultimately abolish California's youth prison system.

4/25/2023

The Untold Story of How a Stubborn Group of Parents Helped Shutter the Nation’s Largest Youth Prison System

For years, a tireless group of parents trekked to the California state Capitol. Their goal: to shut down the California Youth Authority.

5/14/2020

In Surprise Move, Newsom Calls for an End to California’s Youth Prison System

With coronavirus pummeling Californians’ health and economy like a modern day plague, few expected a line item buried in an otherwise deficit-driven budget that Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced Thursday: After decades of the state running what was once the country’s most vast and notorious youth prison system, the end could be near for the Division of Juvenile Justice.

2/16/2017

From Lock Up to Leaders: Formerly Incarcerated Youth Help Direct Juvenile Justice Policy in California

When Juan Gomez first arrived at a notorious California youth prison in rural Amador County at the age of 16, he remembers an acute sense of powerlessness. Guards at the Preston Youth Correctional Facility patrolled the grounds with impunity, meting out beatings and macings to the youth locked up there.

10/4/2016

From Juvie to Juvenile Law: Frankie Guzman’s Unlikely Journey

In 1995, when Frankie Guzman was 15, living in the impoverished community of La Colonia in the city of Oxnard, California, his older friend came to his house to ask for a favor.

8/23/2016

Reports Cites Mental Health Treatment Gaps at California’s DJJ Facilities

Months after California’s Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) left federal oversight over conditions at its correctional facilities, advocates say that problems like institutional violence and poor mental health care are endemic at the three remaining DJJ facilities.