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Chief Administrative Officer recommending the Board ratify the signatures of the Chair and Vice Chair on a letter opposing Senate Bill 823 and Assembly Bill 1868, Juvenile Justice Realignment - Office of Youth and Community Restoration.
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
Senate Bill 823 and Assembly Bill 1868, both of which were introduced in January 2020, seek to close the Department of Juvenile Justice facilities and 'realign' this responsibility to counties. Since these bills were introduced, negotiations between Probation Officers and counties were taking place to ensure this realignment was done in a manner that would provide positive outcomes for juvenile justice youth. As late as the morning of Friday, August 28, 2020, the major associations interested in this legislation, including the California State Association of Counties (CSAC), Rural County Representatives of California, California Probation Officer Association, and the California Association of County Executives, all had the understanding they an agreement with the Newsom Administration on a framework that would benefit the State by resolving their long-standing juvenile justice challenges.
However, on the evening of August 28, 2020, it was announced by the Newsom Administration and the Legislature that they are moving forward with closing the Department of Juvenile Justice and realign these responsibilities with counties, ignoring the input from counties across the state. As stated by CSAC staff, "Despite counties involvement in months of negotiations on this very sensitive proposal, the flawed and hastily crafted approach unveiled at the last hour abandons commitments made by the Newsom Administration to counties and rejections critical aspects of county input."
If this legislation is passed as written it will reduce costs for the State and transfer liability by shifting the remainder of the entire juvenile justice system responsibility, consisting of a population of young p...
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