ARTICLE TAG

Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice

7/19/2021

California Bans Out-of-State Treatment Programs After Reporters Investigate Abuse

California has banned the practice of sending foster youth and teens charged with crimes to faraway residential treatment programs, following an investigation by The Imprint.

1/19/2021

Coronavirus Continues to Rise in California Youth Lockups

Young people from the Pine Grove Conservation Camp juvenile inmate firefighters prepare to battle the Power Fire in Madera County. Photo courtesy of the Department of Juvenile Justice
A staggering 1 in 4 youth incarcerated in California’s prison system for juvenile offenders has been infected with the deadly coronavirus, a grim tally that has grown amid recent outbreaks.

12/12/2019

An Unlikely Group Wants to Raise California’s Juvenile Justice Age to 20

Efforts to shield more teens from the adult criminal justice system are viewed as a progressive cause across the country. But an effort to expand California’s juvenile justice system to include older youth has drawn skepticism, partly due to its chief architect: the state’s probation lobby.

6/18/2019

Despite Controversy, Kamala Harris Made Youth Justice a Priority in California

Back in 2015, when serving as the attorney general of California, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Kamala Harris decided to make justice for children a priority of her office’s work.

6/14/2019

The Next Chapter for Reforming California’s Juvenile Justice Agency: A Therapeutic Model

As California works toward finalizing a new state budget, the legislature this week provided some long-awaited clues about the future of reforms to the state’s Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). A budget approved by the state legislature now appears to call for the creation of an $8 million “therapeutic communities” pilot project inspired by a successful alternative to youth incarceration in large facilities.

6/3/2019

Tomorrow San Francisco May Repeal and Replace Juvenile Incarceration

On Tuesday, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is poised to shut down its juvenile hall and leave in its place a plan that would largely rely on community-based services to deal with young offenders.

    3/1/2018

    Report: Plan to Expand California Youth Prisons Needs Tinkering

    A report by the California Legislative Analyst’s Office raised some doubts about Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to see more older youth and young adults served in the state youth prison system administered by the Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ).

    California Budget Plan Supports Shifting Youth from State Prisons to Juvenile Halls, Amid Opposition

    2/8/2018

    Gov. Brown Eyes Two Ways to Keep Young Californians Out of Adult Prisons

    After a plan to create a new young adult prison system in California failed last year, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) is moving forward with two proposals to serve more juveniles and some young adults in the state’s juvenile prisons.

    8/10/2017

    Youth Prison Paradox: Californians Want Them Shut Down While Counties Keep Building

    According to a new poll released Wednesday by the California Endowment, a majority of California residents say they’d like to see all of the state’s juvenile incarceration facilities closed down. The survey comes at a time when counties are adapting to a significant downturn in youth crime and flagging numbers of young people incarcerated at juvenile camps, halls and ranches across the state.