By Marisa Lagos
The San Francisco Chronicle
SAN FRANCISCO — A plan to shut down one of the state’s few remaining juvenile justice facilities to save tens of millions of dollars a year is running into opposition in Sacramento, where a state lawmaker is worried about the loss of jobs in her district.
The fight over shuttering Preston Youth Correctional Facility in rural Ione Amador County illustrates the difficulty state leaders face as they try to plug a $25.4 billion budget gap while keeping the support of the people who put them in the Capitol. It also underscores a gloomy reality highlighted during Gov.-elect Jerry Brown’s budget forum Wednesday: Reducing the deficit, whether by cutting spending or increasing revenue, could worsen the economy.
Preston, located an hour northeast of Stockton, houses just 224 youths and, as one of the state’s oldest correctional facilities, is in terrible condition. Most of the youths serving time there are hours away from their families.
The facility employs about 450 people in a county with just 38,000 residents and a 12.4 percent unemployment rate. Closing it would save the state $30 million this fiscal year and more in future years, officials estimate.
“It’s like closing a military base,” said Don Specter, director of the Prison Law Office. “People want to keep it just for jobs, but that shouldn’t be the reason that the state or government implements a program.”
Population dropping
The state’s juvenile-offender population has declined steadily over the past decade from a peak of about 10,000 to the current 1,300, and some facilities have already been closed. The decline is in large part the result of a 2003 lawsuit filed by Specter’s inmate advocacy firm, which sued over the dismal conditions in juvenile facilities and forced a number of court-ordered and legislatively approved policy changes. Now, most low-level juvenile offenders are held in county facilities closer to home.
Citing the declining population, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced the closure of Preston in October, saying its inmates will be transferred to the four other juvenile facilities run by the state by June. Assemblywoman Alyson Huber, D-El Dorado Hills, responded Monday with AB8, which would force the agency to keep all five facilities open for at least six months and prohibit any staff reductions during that time.
The bill needs a two-thirds majority in the Legislature to pass.
“We believe the legislation is worthy of serious consideration, and we will review it as it goes through the legislative process,” said Shannon Murphy, a spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker John Pérez.
‘Kill an entire county’
Huber said the closure of Preston would “kill an entire county,” because it is one of the largest employers in the area.
“This is going to turn the city of Ione into Flint, Mich.,” Huber said, referring to the depressing impacts the closure of General Motors facilities had on that company town 20 years ago. “I’m not disagreeing with the fact that a facility needs to be closed ... the question is how do we decide which is the best facility to close.”
Huber contends that Preston has higher graduation rates than other youth facilities; is best complying with the settlement that came out of the 2003 lawsuit; and, because of its dorm settings, offers a better setting for youths.
“The five facilities we have are like a school district,” she said. “I think Preston is the best school - if you have to save $30 million, do you close the best-performing school?”
Facility called ‘dungeon’
Specter and other advocates disagree. Sumayyah Waheed runs a campaign at an Oakland civil rights group, the Ella Baker Center, that seeks to redirect state resources away from youth incarceration. She called Preston a “dungeon” and rattled off a litany of incidents that have occurred there, including suicides and the use of Mace by guards.
“Preston is also the most remote, the furthest away from youths’ families,” she said. “Everyone has to ask their family to travel ... it’s really a burden.”
More disagreement
Specter said Preston has made some improvements, but he also disagreed with Huber’s assessment, saying all of the youth facilities have improved in recent years. Graduation rates at all of the juvenile facilities are similar, added Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman Bill Sessa.
He said closing Preston is a budget decision, noting that the Department of Juvenile Justice was ordered to cut $39 million from its budget this fiscal year and has already closed eight facilities this decade to account for the shrinking juvenile population.
Shuttering Preston will save millions and allow the department to balance its remaining youth facilities geographically. Two will remain in Southern California and two in Northern California.
The agency is working to place Preston’s employees in other corrections facilities within commute distance, he said.
“We couldn’t consolidate other facilities into Preston,” he said. “It came down to the fact that we didn’t have the money or number of youths to support five facilities.”
State prisons for youths After closing eight facilities in the past decade, California has five correctional facilities for juvenile offenders. They are:Ione Amador County: Preston Youth Correctional FacilityStockton: N.A. Chaderjian Youth Correctional FacilityStockton: O.H. Close Youth Correctional FacilityCamarillo Ventura County: Ventura Youth Correctional FacilityNorwalk Los Angeles County: Southern Youth Correctional Reception Center and ClinicSource: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
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