Blog Jan 14, 2011
Governor proposes elimination of DJF
On January 10, 2011 Governor Jerry Brown released his proposed budget for 2011-12 , promoting the elimination of the DJF by June 30, 2014. Elimination of the DJF and realignment of responsibility for all juvenile offenders to the counties is appropriate and fiscally responsible. As highlighted in CJCJ’s In April 2010, Executive Director Daniel Macallair, authored articles in both the LA Times and the California Progress Report reflecting on the poor quality of DJF care that costs $383…
Blog Jan 12, 2011
Brewer, Barbour and Justice
It’s another year, but the same kinds of stories continue. Governors Jan Brewer (Arizona) and Haley Barbour (Mississippi) may be about 2000 miles apart but their conservative philosophies are about the same — and with similar results. Facing a budget crisis that plagues every state in the country, Brewer, like most other governors, has proposed huge cuts in human services, most notably in medical transplant coverage . This issue has received national attention as several residents face…
California avoids GOP wave, read one Washington headline after the November 2010 midterm elections; another accused our state of being “impervious to change.” Not true. There was big change here, with crucial implications for critically needed criminal justice reforms. California’s resistance to the right-wing wave was profound. Democrats captured eight state offices (up from five of eight in 2008) and held its U.S. senate post, usually by double-digit margins. The Democratic Party,…
Blog Jan 3, 2011
DJF Review: Six years later…
The Sixteenth Special Master Report, filed November 22, 2010, summarized the past and present status of DJF’s progress to implement Farrell reforms. Since 2004, when DJF signed the consent decree, it has made progress toward improving the previously atrocious care of its juvenile wards. For example, it no longer administers out-of-date undocumented medicine to its wards and it no longer uses cages to provide education, therapy, or exercise. The Special Master identifies several obstacles…
Blog Dec 20, 2010
Bringing the Missouri Model to California
The Missouri Model, focused on therapeutic rehabilitation, intensive supervision, and reentry support, has been touted for many decades as an exemplary approach to juvenile justice that puts the devastatingly archaic California style of congregate, institutional, and punitive care to shame. Advocates have frequently pushed for California to finally shed its demonstrably unsuccessful approach for the more enlightened, cost effective, and proven successful Missouri-style system. Critics have hit…