NCJ Number
242428
Date Published
October 2010
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This study identifies and analyzes the factors that may have contributed to the "decarceration" trend for youth in California between 1996 and 2009; and it examines concurrent trends in crime, arrests, and the use of other forms of custody.
Abstract
The study determined that in 1996, California began to reverse traditional funding trends through a legislative mandate that made counties pay more to send youth to the custody of the State California Youth Authority (CYA). Simultaneously, the State began providing grants to counties for building new juvenile facilities and implementing new alternative sentencing programs. This new trend was fostered by the influence of youth advocacy groups, which intensified in the early 2000s; however, this effort stalled when the voters passed Proposition 21, which increased penalties for many crimes and made it easier to move young offenders to adult courts. Also, during this period, the Governor moved the CYA under the control of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, despite the objections of most juvenile justice professionals and youth advocates. In the face of allegations of abuse, growing evidence of high recidivism rates, the increasing cost of sending youth to State facilities, and a lawsuit that mandated reform of many aspects of the CYA, in 2007, legislators enacted comprehensive reforms to "realign" the juvenile justice system, requiring that nonviolent juvenile offenders and parole violators be kept at the local level and shifting some funding to counties for the management of new clients. Although many youth advocates continue to call for the closing of the CYA, State facilities continue to provide custody for more serious juvenile offenders whose needs are not being met at the local level. Without a better option than existing county programs, there is concern that many youth will be sent to adult prisons and jails. 1 table