Counties need to lead in reimagining youth justice
As crime continues to fall across the state, and research consistently affirms that youth prisons are ineffective, Californians are taking a stand against antiquated youth justice policies that harm young people.
Recently, San Francisco became the first county in the nation to commit to closing its juvenile hall. This bold move was supported by the city’s district attorney, public defender and nine of 10 county supervisors.
San Francisco isn’t the only jurisdiction to reconsider its juvenile justice model; reform is moving throughout the state. Soon, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors will begin exploring alternatives to the use of its juvenile hall; Santa Clara County is now incarcerating young people only as an absolute last resort; and Los Angeles County has closed nine of its youth prisons in a little over two years. Los Angeles is also exploring establishing a new entity focused on health and youth development to supervise its justice-involved youth, rather than the county probation department.
As Bay Area funders, our two foundations know that county leaders hold the keys to reform. In 2007, California lawmakers enacted the Juvenile Justice Realignment bill, which shifted most responsibilities for juvenile justice, including oversight of youth incarceration and probation, from the state to counties. This was an important and positive change; since the measure passed, youth detention rates across California have decreased by 60%, and juvenile arrest rates have dropped by 73%.
But realignment also has contributed to wide disparities in how young people fare within their counties’ justice systems. According to the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice’s California Sentencing Institute, a young person who is arrested for a felony is much more likely to be incarcerated in Contra Costa County, for example, than in Santa Clara County. Contra Costa has the Bay Area’s highest county youth incarceration rate at 350.3 of every 1,000 juvenile arrests or 35% — dramatically higher than San Francisco’s rate of 12.3%, Santa Clara County’s 11.7% or Marin County’s 9.25%.
Counties also vary considerably in the racial disparities within their systems. While San Francisco has one of the region’s lowest county-youth incarceration rates, it has the highest felony arrest rate for African American youth. According to CJCJ’S data, just under 10% of black youth in San Francisco were arrested for a felony in 2016. In Santa Clara County that rate was 2.5%, and in Contra Costa County it was only 1.7%.
The high level of autonomy held by California’s 58 counties means that the Bay Area can lead the way in embracing new approaches to serving young people and their families. Counties should also collaborate with each other to identify promising new practices and explore viable alternatives to their aging approaches to youth justice.
Local and national funders have also expressed a growing interest in juvenile justice reform. Our two foundations now co-chair a collaboration of Bay Area funders focused on dismantling barriers to opportunity for boys and men of color that are looking to support such work throughout the region. County policymakers and system leaders also can learn from the young people and families with lived experience. Listening to those most impacted by our public systems is the first step toward real transformational reform.
It is time for counties in the Bay Area and across the state to act. Don’t just take our word for it; according to a nationwide bipartisan poll, support for comprehensive juvenile justice reform is strong across political parties, regions, age, gender and racial-ethnic groups.
Now is the time to explore new solutions and invest in what truly works — not just alternatives to incarceration but comprehensive reform that shifts money away from punitive systems and into early education, employment and quality schools. That is the only way we can make sure that all of our young people can lead lives of dignity, self-determination and opportunity.