County is a national model for juvenile detention reform

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, I served as a juvenile court judge in the juvenile justice court (then called juvenile delinquency). On an average day there were between 200-300 youths detained in our juvenile hall, including about 20-30 girls. We had three juvenile rehabilitation facilities, the William James Ranch, the Harold Holden Ranch, and the Muriel Wright Center, where a total of about 200-300 youths were placed for six months to a year. We occasionally experienced over crowding in juvenile hall, and some youths had to wait in juvenile hall for a bed to open at one of the rehabilitation facilities.

In 20 years, all of that has dramatically changed. There are currently no girls in the juvenile halls and fewer than 100 boys. There is only one rehabilitation facility, with less than 100 youths placed there. How could this happen?

My sense is that it started with the hiring of Chief Probation Officer Laura Garnette in 2010. Garnette came from Santa Cruz County where, years before, that county became a pilot for a national program to reduce the incarceration of juveniles. The project was Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, and Santa Cruz County was one of a few counties to be selected to participate and the only county in California.

Garnette’s success in reducing juvenile incarceration in Santa Cruz was surely a major reason why our then county executive, Dr. Jeffrey Smith, appointed her to take over the leadership of our county’s probation department.

Working closely with local law enforcement and then Presiding Judge Katherine Lucero, the numbers of detained youth decreased. Garnette sat down with law enforcement and pointed out that incarceration was unnecessary, particularly before adjudication of the charges filed in court. She found alternatives to incarceration that were more supportive than juvenile hall. Safety was not compromised. The Seneca Family of Agencies and the Bill Wilson Center

proved ideal for placement while court proceedings were pending. Moreover, these organizations planned for the future of these youths. Each placement has a long history of success working with teenagers.

She also worked with sub-groups of detained minors, including African American and Latino youth. With specialized services for these subgroups, the probation staff worked effectively to redirect them toward positive educational and social success.

Assisting in these efforts, Marc Buller, a former chief assistant district attorney, developed multiple community and school outreach programs that include an inter-agency committee on law enforcement and schools and a youth court at local high schools as well as establishing the Law Related Education Program for fifth grade students. Buller acted as the liaison for the district attorney’s office for the implementation of the Juvenile Detention Reform initiative including the Disproportional Minority Representation committee.

We should be proud of what Garnette, Buller, the probation department, Lucero and the justice and law enforcement partners have accomplished. Santa Clara County is truly a national model for juvenile detention reform.