The Lessons of California for Juvenile Justice Reform [JJIE.org]

Samantha Sangenito 9/28/168:54 AM

Those who equate juvenile justice reform with better institutions should consider the California lesson. For the past 13 years, the state’s youth correctional system operated under court monitoring due to its failure to provide rehabilitative services or a safe environment.

The “Farrell lawsuit,” brought by the Prison Law Office, cited a list of institutional abuses that have plagued the American juvenile justice system since the 19th century. Rather than places of rehabilitation, California youth correctional facilities were institutions of rampant violence, abuse and mismanagement. The lawsuit demanded that the state make changes to eliminate the violence and promote a rehabilitative environment.

[For more of this story, written by Daniel Macallair, go to http://jjie.org/the-lessons-of...stice-reform/317123/]

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Gail KennedyMember

During the period that the institutions were subject to court oversight, normal routines and practices were temporarily disrupted, but are now quickly re-emerging as the scrutiny is lifted — a pattern very common in California youth corrections history.

The best insurance against repeating history is to bring an end to the bankrupt system of state correctional institutions and place responsibility and resources for treating youth in the hands of their local communities ...

.. where we can know and love our children and ask "what happened to you" and try and prevent re-traumatization.

9/28/1611:06 AM

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