California Assembly Bill AB 1655 (Lieber) proposes the closure of the Division of Juvenile Justice. The current annual cost of the program is $175M. It boasts a 74% recidivism rate. The California Inspector General recently reported that youth still languish in conditions that lead to suicide attempts and the system trains youth for a lifetime of incarceration. The Governor has proposed that almost half of the current population be transferred back to the counties. While we are about it, why don’t we declare the DJJ a disaster and try something different, preferably something local, more effective and less expensive.

We are failing our youth. Locking them up for the rest of their lives is not the right answer. It’s not the right social answer, the right humanitarian answer, nor the right fiscal answer.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive