| California Youth Authority |
Article Index for California |
Limousines in California |
Website Links For California |
Information AboutCalifornia Youth Authority |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT CALIFORNIA DIVISION OF JUVENILE JUSTICE | |
| juvenile detention centers | |
| juvenile law | |
| prisons in california | |
|
The DJJ is undergoing reorganization as required by a court agreement and the California State Legislature after widespread criticisms of conditions at its youth prisons. DJJ houses over 6,000 youths. Its predecessor, CYA, had a $387 million annual budget as of 2004 . Each year, well over 2,000 young offenders are admitted to DJJ, while a similar number are released. Most Wards are committed for Violent Crime s, and are institutionalized for over two years on average, at a cost to the state of over $71,000 per inmate each year, having increased over over 130%, from $30,783, since 1990 . In recent years, California's Juvenile Justice system has received intense and increasing criticism from experts nationwide for running Draconian youth Prison s. {Link without Title} MISSION AND VISION As of 2004, the CYA's stated mission:
CYA vision:
CONDITIONS On non-school days, inmates are locked in their cells for 23 hours a day. A spokesman for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger 's prisons department said lengthy lockdowns at DJJ facilities were no longer used as punishment, but were sometimes necessary to maintain order. One of the justifications for such treatment is gang affiliation and the threat of corresponding Violence . Many, perhaps a majority, of the children at some DJJ facilities are placed on Psychotropic medications, a matter that has triggered protests and litigation. The threat of violence is a constant distraction at DJJ facilities. In 2004 , a six-month investigation by the '' San Jose Mercury News '' uncovered deep systemic flaws, concluding that violence was predominant, gangs ruled, and fear was pervasive. The ''Mercury News'' reported that, at any given time, dozens of young men are held in isolation cells for fighting or other offenses at the state's two maximum security facilities, and that wards sometimes threw Human Waste , Blood or Semen through the slots in their cell doors. Experts who have studied the prisons have declared them the most violent in the nation, and there have been six Suicide s in California's juvenile jails between 2000 and 2005 . In January, 2005, Chief Deputy Inspector General Brett Morgan issued a report calling for the elimination of 23 hour aday Incarceration policies for wards placed in administrative segregation and criticized the DJJ for failing to end the practice. The inspector general's report outlines Maldonado's history and offers a portrait of Chaderjian as a violent lockup where gang leaders seem to have more clout than the guards. STOCKTON: N.A. CHADERJIAN YOUTH CORRECTIONAL FACILITY The N.A. Chaderjian Youth Correctional Facility in Stockton is one of the CYA's two maximum security lockups, and home for the worst-of-the-worst juvenile offenders. Chaderjian, also known as "Chad", earned national headlines in 2004 after guards were caught on film kicking and punching wards. In August, , director of the Prison Law Office , a public interest group involved in litigation against the state over conditions in the juvenile prisons. During lockdowns, wards are allowed showers three times a week, but are given no time to attend school, exercise or interact with Mental Health professionals. "The effects of this eight-week isolation and service deprivation may have contributed to the ward's suicide,'' the report concludes. The extended Lockdown at the facility was contrary to the rehabilitative mission of the state's youth corrections system, according to state officials. Deputy Inspector Morgan said the eight-week lockdown was known about by at least two top-level juvenile corrections officials in Sacramento.
EDUCATION The CYA is legally required to provide a High School Education for every ward who does not already have a Diploma . However, students are routinely kept out of class because of security lockdowns, teacher vacancies or other problems. Gang members have been reportedly kept from regular classes for several months at a time because of gang tensions. Teachers are often frustrated and become burnt out coping with sytemic barriers to providing educational programs. Some wear Body Armor to class. Classrooms, mandated by the state, consist of desks placed in individual cages. Teachers are only able to pass materials to the students through slots in the otherwise completely locked cages. LITIGATION In 2000 , a Sacramento federal judge rejected a class action suit on behalf of all CYA inmates, declaring they had failed to back up claims forming the basis of their bid for sweeping revisions of CYA policies and procedures. {Link without Title} The judge did allow three defined groups of wards to sue in three specific categories of contention on constitutional grounds. Wards forcibly medicated with a psychotropic drug without a hearing were enabled to challenge CYA's forced drugging policy. Wards committed for sexual offenses were allowed to challenge sex offender treatment programs in which they were placed. Wards placed in isolation for their own safety without a hearing were also allowed to proceed with litigation. In a separate lawsuit, the Prison Law Office complained that "Rehabilitation cannot succeed when the classroom is a cage and wards live in constant fear of physical and sexual violence from CYA staff and other wards." {Link without Title} In 2004, Governor Schwarzenegger had settled that lawsuit and pledged to make significant changes, but his administration has missed several court-imposed deadlines to implement reforms, including policies regarding Suicide Prevention , according to Specter. In 2001 , another lawsuit against CYA prompted a San Francisco judge to direct the CYA to obtain licenses for all eleven of its health care facilities within two years. {Link without Title} FEMALE INMATES Sexual harassment happens every day, according to at least one female incarcerated at DJJ, with guards asking young women to flash them, watching closely when the youths shower, and making unwelcome sexual remarks. FOSTER GRANDPARENT PROGRAMS Because few parents participate, foster grandparents at DJJ facilities fill the role of Surrogate parents. All foster grandparents receive training from Special Education Resource Specialists and multi-language training. CRITICISM AND CALLS FOR CLOSURE There have been many calls to shut down DJJ/CYA altogether. A spate of such calls came in the wake of Scandal s arising after a video tape surfaced, in 2004, of a youth being punched in the head repeatedly by a guard at the Stockton facility and two youths dying there. Critics point to reports that over 90% of those released from DJJ (then CYA) ended up in adult prison, and that within three years five percent are dead and only four percent are in school or working. The DJJ facilities are called ' Gladiator schools' by critics, who also complain that DJJ prison guards are armed with guns, and that children, some as young as 11 or 12, are kept in cages--literally. If a child does not belong to a gang upon entry to one of the facilities, critics contend, DJJ effectively assigns inmates to one or another, often based on racial criteria. DJJ, according to critics, does not effectively assess its instructional programs, does not measure its graduation rate, and does little to track overall student progress on proficiency tests. CYA does have a ward data system, the Offender Based Information Tracking System (OBITS), which compiles some demographic data, drug test results and length of incarceration. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|