In January, California Governor Gavin Newsom released his proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2020-21 and included a substantial increase in spending for the state's dangerous and prison-like youth correctional institutions, currently known as the Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) (CJCJ, 2019; DOF, 2020a). This proposed increase coincides with a…

In November 2020, Californians will vote on Proposition 20 ("Prop 20"), a ballot initiative that would roll back key elements of the state's recent justice reforms, including Public Safety Realignment, Proposition 47, and Proposition 57 (AB 109, 2011; Prop 47, 2014; Prop 57; 2016; SOS, 2018). In recent years, the Center on Juvenile and…

As COVID-19 cases surge worldwide, young people in California's state-run youth correctional system, the Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), remain at high risk of contracting the deadly virus. During a first-wave outbreak in June and July of 2020, DJJ was unable to control COVID-19's rapid spread, resulting in the infection of one in twelve youth…

In June 2019, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to close the city's juvenile hall, setting in motion a planning process that will culminate in the transfer of all remaining youth out of the facility and into community-led alternatives by the end of 2021. This analysis is the first in a series by the Center on Juvenile and Criminal…

On the brink of closure, California's Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) requires critical attention. DJJ's inherent flaws and high costs led state leaders to heed long-standing calls for the closure of its youth correctional institutions in favor of local alternatives, a process known as juvenile justice realignment. DJJ stopped most youth…

California maintains two sets of secure juvenile facilities: a state-run youth correctional system, the Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), and 112 juvenile halls, camps, and ranches operated by county probation departments. Despite sustained declines in serious juvenile arrests and a reduction in commitments to the state, DJJ has not closed a…

California's youth correctional institutions are failing young people and their communities. The system--currently known as the Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ)--exposes youth to a violent, prison-like environment that should shock the consciences of California lawmakers, advocates, and residents. Since the 1890s, the state's youth correctional…

California's state youth correctional system, the Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), is violent, isolated, and lacks accountability. Fights and riots are a part of daily life and create a culture of fear. DJJ's violent conditions are concealed by an absence of state oversight and the facilities' long distances from youths' families and…