Newsom signs bill moving his juvenile justice vision nearer

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that would help implement his vision of winding down California's juvenile justice system.

When he took office two years ago, the governor pledged to "end the juvenile justice system as we know it." This meant moving the Division of Juvenile Justice out of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation into the state's Health and Human Services Agency.

The intent is for the new division to focus on treatment, rehabilitation and diversion. The new Department of Youth and Community Restoration was to have a budget of almost $290 million under the initial spending plan Newsom introduced last year.

Then the pandemic happened. The final budget cut $3.1 million that was to go to a pilot program to divert youth criminal lawbreakers from adult prisons to county programs.

Senate Bill 92 aims to get that process back on track. It will "require a court to consider, as an alternative to commitment to the Division of Juvenile Justice, placement in county programs established because of the realignment." It also establishes new rules for the new county detention centers, called Secure Youth Treatment Facilities, and how long inmates can be kept there. Finally, it would appropriate $50,000 for adult reentry programs, with more money to come later.

"We need to clarify that we need some long-term, secure county options to accommodate youth who otherwise might be transferred to an adult facility," said Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, introducing the bill for its final vote on the Senate floor on May 3.

Skinner noted other aspects of the transition have continued. The division will stop accepting new inmates on July 1. Under the terms of SB 92, the division will need to develop a plan for transferring any remaining inmates by the end of the year. The transition of youth detention out of the Department of Corrections must be complete by June 30, 2023.

The bill passed the Senate 28-8 and the Assembly 56-17. Both votes mostly followed party lines, with Republicans still opposed to the changes.

"Every time there's a major reform and then next year we have to do cleanup, it's testimony the first bill was not very well thought out," said Sen. Jim Nielsen, R-Red Bluff, speaking in opposition.

He added: "The state washes their hands of these wards ... and dumps them on the counties. Counties will never say they have enough resources to deal with this population."

Sen. María Elena Durazo, D-Los Angeles, implied her GOP colleagues were still fighting old battles, arguing that a large percentage of the wards under state supervision were "already in county facilities." She said the new system will offer "restoration, healing, and true opportunity for growth," with young law offenders being able to stay closer to home and existing support systems within counties.

The Legislature continued the transition to a new version of juvenile justice last year despite the pandemic. This included passing SB 823, also on party-line votes. That bill put off the transition by one year and created a system of block grants designed to aid counties. It also abolished rules allowing youthful offenders to be held in adult facilities and reduced the age at which an offender must leave youth lockup from 25 to 23. Finally, it created an Office of Youth and Community Restoration, rather than a department, to help manage the new system.

But there also continues to be pushback against the new vision of youth justice. Earlier this month, protesters in Santa Cruz spoke out against SB 1391. This 2018 law, signed by former Gov. Jerry Brown, prohibits anyone under 16 from being tried as an adult. The California Supreme Court ruled in February that SB 1391 was not an unconstitutional modification of Proposition 57, a criminal justice initiative voters passed in 2016. O.G. v. Superior Court, 2021 DJDAR 1807 (Cal., Feb. 25, 2021)).