Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (CJCJ)

"In the absence of more prison closures, CDCR’s costs will continue to grow, largely due to increases in employee compensation costs and higher medical costs for incarcerated people."

Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article315900888.html =cpy"

California paid $20 million to cut prison costs. Where does it hope to save? Instead of closing another prison, the Newsom administration is hoping to cut prison spending by reducing costs associated with workers’ compensation.

"Prison closures have become the most effective way for California to reduce long-term correctional spending."

Prison Closures Could Save Billions, Challenge CA's Rising Prison Spending - Davis Vanguard California's correctional spending is projected to increase by nearly $1 billion, despite a decline of approximately 70,000 incarcerated individuals since 2010. This fiscal trend has drawn criticism from advocacy groups, including Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB), which argues the...

At least two teenage boys were sexually abused by female staffers at a Chatsworth group home earlier this year, leading one of the women to become pregnant, according to a civil claim filed this week.

Staffer got pregnant after abusing teen at L.A. County youth home, legal claim says Female staff members at a facility for Los Angeles County youth allegedly sexually abused at least two teenage boys under their care, according to a legal claim filed Thursday.

"Despite a decline in reported crime, Sacramento’s police budget has doubled over the past decade, while the number of sworn officer positions has decreased."

Sacramento’s Police Budget Soars As Crime Rates, Staffing Fa... Despite a decline in reported crime, Sacramento’s police budget has doubled over the past decade, while the number of sworn officer positions has decreased.

California made a historic shift in juvenile justice — moving away from large state youth prisons and placing responsibility in the hands of local counties. Its a step the right direction. But the reform
only works if the right people are doing the work.

Our new report, Nonprofit Community-Based Organizations: Central Partners in Service Delivery and Systems Reform, makes the case that community-based nonprofits must be at the
center of this effort — not corporate vendors, not probation departments.

Nonprofit Community-Based Organizations: Central Partners in Service Delivery and Systems Reform In the first of the California Juvenile Justice Realignment Reform Report Series, Daniel Macallair writes about the role of CBO's in service delivery and systems reform in the state.

"As long as these facilities remain open, they will continue to be used. In California, the scale of incarceration is no longer driven by need — it is shaped by capacity."

Read the full piece on California's juvenile justice system by CJCJ's Executive Director Daniel Macallair below.

The Case for Closing Excess Youth Detention Facilities in California | The Imprint Closing some of California's county-run youth incarceration facilities is the only way to eliminate the excess capacity and structural incentives that sustain confinement, writes Daniel Macallair.

For decades, San Francisco has taken a different approach to youth justice: support instead of incarceration.

A new San Francisco Standard article highlights youth caseworkers helping young people stay in their communities. Programs like CJCJ’s Detention Diversion Advocacy Program (DDAP)—evaluated by the U.S. Department of Justice—have shown lower reoffending and fewer serious charges.

The evidence is clear: we can reduce incarceration and improve outcomes at the same time.

Read more:

Meet the case managers keeping San Francisco’s youth offenders out of jail SF’s youth crime rate was once among the highest in the state — until the city began assigning case workers to each juvenile offender.

"In addition to the center at UC Davis Health, the Alameda County Family Justice Center in Oakland, Cirtus Counseling Services Trauma Recovery Center in Redlands, Miracles Counseling Trauma Recovery Center in Gardena and the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck Trauma Recovery Center in Los Angeles were also not granted funding for the next two years."

Read more at Sac Bee:

Sacramento trauma center loses funding as Prop. 36 shifts dollars The UC Davis Health Trauma Recovery Center is applying for outside grants and considering conducting its work pro bono.

Thank you to the LAist for highlighting our Prop 36 report in your recent piece, and for speaking to the report's author, Maureen Washburn.

“There just isn’t enough treatment to meet the need. People aren’t getting connected to treatment. They aren’t succeeding in treatment programs once they’re in them.” - Maureen Washburn

Checking on Prop. 36: A necessary crackdown on repeat offenders or a return to mass incarceration? Observers say Proposition 36 is filling jails, prisons with people charged with petty theft, low-level drug crimes, while treatment is lacking.

"Building stronger coalitions will require us to:

Show up, even when it’s uncomfortable.
Talk to people whose politics aren’t perfect.
Work with those still in process because they, too, have revolutionary potential.
Refuse to turn on the people closest to us and focus on the real enemy."

Division is a threat to resistance. Here’s how to build a stronger coalition | David C Turner III and Eric Morrison-Smith People won’t join us just because we’re right. They’ll join if we make them feel like they belong