NCJ Number
111746
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 50 Issue: 3 Dated: (June 1988) Pages: 110,112,114-115
Date Published
1988
Length
5 pages
Annotation
The California Youth Authority (CYA) has changed its program orientations to address the changing character of the juvenile offender population.
Abstract
The CYA is responsible for the most serious youthful offenders processed in both juvenile courts and adult criminal courts. Over the last 20 years, the CYA population has changed with respect to race, age, sex, and offenses committed. The average age of the CYA population has increased over this time, and the percentage of white offenders has decreased while the percentage of Hispanic and black offenders has increased. The percentage of female offenders has decreased, largely due to the deinstitutionalization of status offenders, and the seriousness of female juvenile crimes has increased, as has the seriousness of juvenile crimes in general. In response to the changes in the CYA's offender population, in 1983 the new head of the CYA directed the department's training and treatment programs to emphasize competency-based education, employment skills, evening education classes, restitution, public service, accountability, inspection of facilities by the State Commission on Juvenile Justice, crime and delinquency prevention, citizen participation, victim issues, and partnerships between the private sector and public agencies.