Juvenile Justice in Alameda County: We’re on Our Way but More Needs to Be Done for Our Children

Paul Cobb | Publisher of the Post News Group

It seems too much money in this case is too little. Alameda County spends $493,000 per year for each kid in its juvenile detention facilities but crime and recidivism remain high.

The California juvenile justice system is reorienting itself, pivoting to emphasize education, treatment, and rehabilitation over punishment. But before we move on, let’s pause, and take an honest look at the history of a system that was broken and has been in disarray for many, many decades.

Plagued by scandals, abuse, and overspending since its creation 80 years ago, the state is taking steps in the right direction by transferring responsibility for managing all youthful offenders from the state to local jurisdictions through a process known as realignment.

Adapting a model that is restorative and reparative for the men, women and children who commit crimes is not at odds with maintaining a criminal justice system that aspires to fairness – one that upholds and defends the rule of law. Punishment, including incarceration, should act both as a deterrent to crime and restitution for offenses against society. But people should not be released from prison, and enter back into society, without altering the mindset that led them to breaking the law or without reconsidering the actions that landed them in jail.

In 2020, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 823 into law requiring the state to transfer all youth committed to the California Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) to their counties of residency. It also calls for the closure of DJJ by June 30 of this year.

As of July 1, 2021, to support the successful implementation of SB 823’s transition and ongoing programming and interventions, the state established the Office of Youth and Community Restoration (OYCR) within the California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHS).

Juvenile detention under the OYCR plan is expected to reduce racial and ethnic disparities, and increase community-based responses and interventions.

The Alameda County Probation Department (ACPD) is expanding its juvenile detention programs to align with SB 823 also.

Currently, the systems of county probation departments, juvenile courts, local school districts, and child welfare and behavioral health departments all deal with the punishments of juveniles after they commit offenses.

In addition to local law enforcement, county probation departments are also responsible for operating juvenile halls, camps, and ranches. At the state level, the DJJ, formerly called California Youth Authority, maintains three secure facilities and a conservation camp for lower-risk offenders.

According to a 2020 report by the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, ‘Reimagining Youth Justice: A Blueprint for Alameda County,’ California and Alameda County have seen consistently declining incarcerated youth populations over the past 20 years.

The total number of youths in state youth prisons under the Division of DJJ had fallen to 317 youths in 2018, almost half of the population in 2006.

Comparably, in Alameda County, the number of young people in juvenile detention had dropped dramatically from 43 youth in 2006 to four in 2018, according to the Ella Baker Center report.

Named for Ella Baker, an unsung hero of the civil rights movement, the mission of the Oakland-based center is designed to end mass incarceration and to work to advance racial and economic justice that ensures dignity and opportunity for low-income people and people of color.

The 42-page report, authored by Amisha Kambath, also stated that Black youth are approximately 113 times more likely than their White peers to be arrested and charged with felonies.

Transforming the criminal justice system is the key focus of everything for the center.

Notably, the ACPD’s mission is to serve justice-involved youth in their communities, where they can be surrounded by natural support systems and local resources. The department managed Juvenile Hall and Camp Sweeney facilities.

Camp Wilmont Sweeney is a 50-bed minimum-security residential program for adolescent males ranging in age from 15 through 19. Camp Sweeney is in the process of implementing a level-based treatment program model that emphasizes change, growth, and progress.

With an overall juvenile justice budget of $156 million, Alameda County spends approximately $493,000 per year for each kid in its probation-run juvenile detention facilities, the Ella Baker Center reported. Nearly one in three of those young people will be re-convicted after release.

Black people make up just 10% of Alameda County’s general population but Black children accounted for 71 % of the Camp Sweeney’s population, and 67% of the kids in juvenile hall.

Despite constituting about 10% and 23% of the Alameda County population, Black and Latino youth represent 67% and 25% of youth, respectively, in Juvenile Hall.

Over the last decade, Alameda County had experienced a significant reduction in the number of youths detained in juvenile hall or group-home placements. The county probation department has done its part with innovation and effective programs to reduce youth incarceration.

ACPD will further decrease the number of lockups through a California law committed to fixing a fractured system. When he took office in 2019, Gov. Newsom announced his intentions to dismantle the California juvenile justice system as we know it. It costs Alameda County an average of $23,000 per year for each young person on probation.

When he signed SB 823 on Sept. 30, 2020, it was clear that life-changing options for young people were achievable in the youth justice system and the law would best serve them closer to their home communities and families.

As the state moves closer to completely phasing out DJJ it would be wise for all 58 counties to make efforts along the lines of what ACPD has been trying to accomplish: providing the resources to keep youth out of the criminal justice system.