California Division of Juvenile Justice - Criticism and Calls For Closure

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 scandals 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. DJJ 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.

DJJ officers and guards are not armed — no firearms are allowed within juvenile institutions. Firearms are only on the person of an officer if he/she is outside of the institution, transporting a Youthful offender to Court or a medical facility. Youthful Offenders are no longer kept in "cages" following Farrell reforms.

Teens with mental health problems were made worse, not better, by a system that is failing to rehabilitate kids, according to reports by independent experts.

Among larger states, California consistently has had the highest youth incarceration rate, with more than double the national average youth incarceration rate, which critics decry for contributing to chronic overcrowding, unsafe conditions, poor health services, and numerous related problems, including gang violence.

A July 2008 report by California's Little Hoover Commission recommended that the state "eliminate its juvenile justice operations by 2011" by "turning supervision of all youth offenders over to counties and providing the resources for counties and county consortiums to supervise the most serious youth offenders."