NCJ Number
75282
Date Published
1975
Length
108 pages
Annotation
California's current youth corrections system is assessed, and recommendations are offered for reorganizing the system.
Abstract
Significant conditions prevalent in the juvenile justice environment are identified and discussed. Trends, characteristics, and patterns in juvenile and youth crime are analyzed, and the general system ferment is examined. Also considered are disparities and capriciousness in the juvenile justice system's decisionmaking, the State's propensity for incarcerating juveniles, charges of the controversy surrounding the probation subsidy. The needs and deficiencies of the current juvenile justice system are then summarized. California's correctional functions are divided between State and county government agencies, with municipal and private agencies, making some significant but minor contributions. The State-county division of the corrections workload is a primary consideration in reorganization recommendations; just over 80 percent of the corrections workload is handled by local jurisdictions, and this percentage is steadily growing. The recommendation considered to have the greatest potential for positively influencing the State corrections system over the long run proposes the establishment of a State corrections agency with three separate departments. The Youth Authority which would retain its present direct service functions while being relieved of its regulatory and subsidy-administration responsibility. The present Department of Corrections would retain its present functions except for the jail inspection responsibility. A Department of Community Correctional Services would have the central mission of supporting and strengthening the existing county operations. Six other recommendations for correctional reorganization are presented and discussed. An addendum discusses the State-county caseload division. Tabular data on youth corrections for the early 1970s are provided.