NCJ Number
124002
Date Published
1988
Length
6 pages
Annotation
California's reliance on locked facilities for all types of offenders lessens the ability of the system to develop and pay for other, rational alternatives.
Abstract
A number of other states are more selective about whom they place in secure care and have implemented new models for the treatment of serious and violent offenders that are paying off. The Massachusetts Department of Youth Services has established a secure care classification system addressing the concerns of public safety and assuring that serious and violent offenders are programmed adequately. In California, there is a need for this type of classification so that costly secure care is viewed as a last resort. A good secure program is small, flexible, and decentralized for the individual youth. In addition, it is autonomous, has different levels of programming available, and has clear and consistent rewards and sanctions. The small minority of juveniles who have committed five or more offenses should be identified as "life-style" violent offenders, separated out from other adjudicated youth, and locked in secure treatment units with the goal of not just incapacitating them, but de-escalating their violence and criminality. 6 notes.