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Juvenile Justice Program

Reports | About The Juvenile Justice Program

Program Description

Commonweal's Juvenile Justice Program is dedicated to the establishment of laws, policies and programs that serve the juvenile justice goals of crime prevention, treatment and rehabilitation within a context of public protection. A good deal of our work is targeted to the state of California, and to the goal of building an adequate service network within the state for high-risk youth and their families.

Program Scope of Work

We specialize in the development of laws, policies and programs for high-risk youth, using contacts with key policymakers, backed by research and expertise on the subject matter at hand. Our activities include:

Policymaker education. Commonweal meets frequently with key state and local government leaders to discuss and develop juvenile justice policies and budget priorities affecting at-risk children and their families.

Research and analysis: Commonweal provides research and analysis of juvenile justice laws, court decisions and reform initiatives. Within California, we have focused heavily on periodic analysis of the California state budget dedicated to youth corrections and crime prevention programs. We also produce digests of California juvenile justice legislation and post-session summaries of laws passed by the California Legislature.

Advocacy. Within limits applicable to nonprofit organizations, Commonweal has supported legislation in California creating new youth programs and has opposed legislation that promotes unnecessary incarceration or overcrowding in secure youth facilities.

Program development. Based on its experience in the design and funding of juvenile justice programs, Commonweal has provided expertise to policymakers seeking to implement new youth service and crime prevention programs. In 2000, for example, Commonweal was instrumental in the design and adoption of the Schiff-Cardenas Crime Prevention Act in California which provides $100 million each year to youth crime and prevention programs throughout the state.

Origins of the Program: Developing Alternatives to the Incarceration of Children in California

Among larger states, California has consistently had the highest youth incarceration rate, more than double the national average rate of incarceration for youth confined in secure public facilities. California state institutions for juvenile offenders (the Youth Authority, now called the Division of Juvenile Justice) are now under a court consent decree stemming from litigation over programs and conditions in these facilities. For nearly 25 years, Commonweal has worked with advocacy organizations, court-appointed experts and juvenile justice professional groups to reduce youth incarceration levels in California and to develop safe and effective alternatives to secure juvenile confinement.

The Juvenile Justice Program began in 1982 with a critical examination of the California Youth Authority (CYA). Under a grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Commonweal produced a series of four books on the Youth Authority between 1982 and 1990. Authored by Steve Lerner and Paul and Anne Demuro, the CYA series described a prison culture dominated by overcrowding, violence, gang activity and severe program deficiencies. The third book in the series offered a reform agenda that stressed smaller institutions, shorter terms of youth incarceration, elimination of prison hardware and the development of county-level programs and facilities as options to state commitment.

Nearly 25 years later, these recommendations resonate with relevance to the current crisis at CYA. Plagued by ward suicides, institutional violence, high costs and failure rates, and pressured by litigation, the Administration has pledged to transform CYA (now, the Division of Juvenile Justice or DJJ) in to a best practice model of youth corrections. Several of the recommendations made years ago in the Commonweal reports are reflected in the reform plans adopted by DJJ and in reform proposals presently being asserted by lawmakers, juvenile justice experts and youth advocates.

In the mid 1980s, Commonweal worked with other advocacy organizations to remove children from adult jails and prisons, and to bring California into compliance with federal law in this regard. This effort, steered by current Program Director David Steinhart, led to landmark California juvenile justice legislation in 1986, (SB 1637, Presley) which essentially ended the practice of locking children in adult facilities in California.

Here are some other milestones of the Commonweal Juvenile Justice Program, with regard to alternatives to incarceration, beginning with 1992

• 1992: Produced a model "short stay" institutional program within the California Youth Authority, incorporated into legislation creating the LEAD alternative program at CYA (Presley, SB 676).
• 1993-97: Served as advisors to state Senate leaders in California in the effort to protect the treatment-based principles of the juvenile justice system against politically driven attempts to expand adult trials and punishments for juvenile offenders.
• 2000: Collaborated with other juvenile justice stakeholders and advocates in an effort to defeat Proposition 21, the California Juvenile Crime Initiative sponsored by former Gov. Wilson. Nevertheless Prop 21 was approved by California votes. AS adopted, it allows prosecutors to "direct file" in adult court on minors 14 or older with serious offenses, makes it easier to sentence juveniles to state prison, imposes gang registration and enhances penalties for a range of offenses.
• 2000: Worked with legislative leaders to design the Schiff-Cardenas Crime Prevention Act, creating the largest appropriation ($120 million) in state history for local youth crime and violence prevention programs. Served as co-counsel in litigation challenging the Governor's initial veto of this crime prevention program.
• 2001-2: Worked with the California Attorney General and legislators to establish a mandate for the collection of statewide data on transfers, trials and sentences of minors in adult criminal courts, after Proposition 21. (SB 314, Alpert, 2001).
• 2003: Served on the California Board of Corrections Executive Steering Committee which revised state standards for county juvenile halls, camps and ranches in California. The ESC upgraded standards on physical plants, programs, health and mental health care, use of force and related requirements for county facilities.
• 2004: Constructed a model for Juvenile Court evaluations and dispositions of juvenile offenders with mental health disorders and developmental disabilities, incorporated into state legislation which at first failed (AB 2019, Steinberg, 2004) and was later successful (SB 570, Migden, 2005).
• 2004-05: Served on two statewide Juvenile Justice Working Groups appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger to advise the Administration on reforms at the California Youth Authority. Weighed into the debate on the proposed state Corrections Reorganization Plan and successfully advocated plan changes that preserved a measure of independence for CYA-DJJ in the structure finally adopted.
• 2005: Produced a model for reform of the state youth parole system in California, under a grant from the Walter S. Johnson Foundation. The model proposed to shift parole supervision responsibility from state CYA to local probation departments, using best-practice models of aftercare, with a funding mechanism to support local aftercare services and graduated sanctions. The model was not accepted by the Administration, but elements have been included in legislations authored by Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero.

Expanding youth crime and violence prevention programs in California

Commonweal's Juvenile Justice Program has made substantial and successful efforts to develop and expand youth crime and violence prevention programs in California.

In 1995, we began work related to the Youth Violence Prevention Initiative of the California Wellness Foundation. We collaborated with advocates and stakeholders throughout California to support laws and ordinances limiting children's access to firearms and to expand state resources for youth violence prevention programs.

In 1997, Commonweal designed a California model for the creation of a Youth Violence Prevention Authority--an independent state agency that would develop and oversee a coordinated statewide network of youth violence prevention programs. The proposal was transformed into legislation by Senate President Bill Lockyer which passed the Legislature but was subsequently vetoed by Governor Wilson (SB 822).

In 2000, Commonweal worked directly with California state policymakers to design and implement the Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act. In part to balance the punitive emphasis of Proposition 21 (described above), legislative leaders in 2000 proposed a major appropriation to support a statewide network of juvenile crime prevention programs. The bill making this appropriation was at first vetoed by Governor Gray Davis. Subsequently, Commonweal worked with the state's Office of Legislative Counsel, preparing litigation against the Governor for improprieties made in the exercise of the veto; we served as co-counsel representing community agencies that suffered harm as a result. Faced with litigation, the Governor changed his mind and signed AB 1913, the Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act, into law. The "JJCPA" made the single largest appropriation for crime prevention programs in California history—$120 million annually statewide. Since 2000, the JJCPA has been renewed each year, even in budget deficit years, and it has (as of 2006) provided more than a half-billion dollars for county-level youth crime and violence prevention programs. Programs supported by these funds include local after-school, alternative-to-confinement, counseling, gang prevention and outreach and mental health programs, as well as specialized programs for girls in the justice system.

The Wellness Foundation initiative formally ended in 2003, but the Foundation has continued to fund individual projects in this field. Since 2003, under continuing grants, Commonweal has produced bi-annual budget analyses and other reports on youth violence prevention programs in California. We continue to work with state policymakers to sustain their interest and support for the JJCPA and related funding streams.

Promoting a national agenda of juvenile justice reform

Beginning in 1997, Commonweal began a long and productive association with the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative (JDAI). The JDAI operates on a national scale, providing resources to state and local governments to help them eliminate unnecessary pre-trial incarceration of children and adopt proven alternatives to secure detention. The JDAI represents the nation's leading effort to implement best-practice reforms at the detention stage of the juvenile justice system. Commonweal Project Director David Steinhart researched and wrote two volumes in the Annie. E Casey Foundation series on detention reform: one on "Special Detention Cases" (probation violators, post-adjudication detainees) and another on "Planning for Juvenile Detention Reform". Commonweal now serves as a technical assistance provider to JDAI sites in more than 20 states. In 2005, Steinhart researched and wrote a manual on detention risk assessment, to guide local jurisdictions in the development of effective risk-assessment instruments; the manual is scheduled for publication sometime in 2006.

Recent grants and projects (2005-06)

Reforming the California state youth corrections system. Under grants from the JEHT Foundation and the Wallace A. Gerbode Foundation, Commonweal is engaged in efforts to transform California's troubled state youth corrections system (the Division of Juvenile Justice) into a "best practice" model of care and supervision. We have served on two Governor's task forces, advising the Administration on CYA-DJJ reforms (2004-05). We also serve as informal advisors to key legislative leaders, providing input on reform models in the areas of parole and aftercare, DJJ population control, sentencing law changes, expansion of county or regional facilities as options to state-run youth prisons and development of state subsidies to support local program development. This work involves close collaboration with other statewide advocacy organizations and with trade associations and interest groups that have a stake in juvenile justice reform.

Juvenile justice-mental health programs. Under grants from the California Endowment and the California Wellness Foundation, Commonweal developed a new model for court evaluation of juvenile offenders with mental health disorders and developmental disabilities. Under this model, a separate disposition planning process, using a multi-disciplinary team, is applied to children who met specific diagnostic criteria for mental and developmental impairment. The model was eventually integrated into successful legislation by Senator Carole Migden (SB 570) effective 1/1/06.

Juvenile justice aftercare models. Under a grant from the Walter S. Johnson Foundation, Commonweal undertook a critical examination of the California Youth Authority's parole system, as well as a review of the probation camp aftercare program in Santa Clara County, CA. We produced a model for legal reform of the state's youth parole system, including a proposed new funding stream to support the development of county-level aftercare services, step-down facilities and graduated sanctions for parole violations. We also made recommendations related to the development of aftercare programs for locally committed youth.

Alternatives to detention and detention risk assessment. Under grants from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Commonweal provides technical assistance to local jurisdictions participating in the foundation's Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI). In 2005, we made TA site visits in six West and Southwest states, helping them develop detention intake criteria and related alternatives to secure confinement. We provide training on a national scale to JDAI participants (representing more than 20 states) at foundation forums and conferences each year. In 2006, the Casey Foundation will publish a detailed guide to the design and implementation of juvenile detention risk assessment instruments, written by Program Director David Steinhart.

Youth violence prevention. Under continuing grants from the California Wellness Foundation, Commonweal serves as an information resource center on California law and fiscal policy affecting violence prevention programs. This work evolved from our former participation in the Wellness Foundation's Youth Violence Prevention Initiative. Objectives under the current grant include publishing bi-annual reports on California appropriations for youth violence prevention programs, tracking and analysis of related legislation and policymaker education on the need to continue state support for local youth crime and violence prevention programs.

Staffing of the Juvenile Justice Program

Since 1992, the Director of the Juvenile Justice Program has been David Steinhart. Steinhart is a California attorney, a former Policy Director for the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, and a former Executive Director of the California Child, Youth and Family Coalition. He is recognized, both within California and nationally, as an expert and author on the juvenile justice system and on the development of programmatic alternatives to incarceration.

Support of the Juvenile Justice Program

The Juvenile Justice Program has been supported by private contributions and by current and past grants from foundations including:

The Annie E. Casey Foundation
The Jennifer Altman Foundation
The California Endowment
The California Wellness Foundation
The Foundation for Child Development
The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation
The Wallace A. Gerbode Foundation
The Haigh-Scatena Foundation
The Luke Hancock Foundation
The JEHT Foundation
The Walter S. Johnson Foundation
The Open Society Institute (Center on Crime, Communities & Culture)
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
The Public Welfare Foundation
The Van Loben Sels Foundation
Witkin Family Foundation
The Zellerbach Family Foundation

Contact information

David Steinhart
Juvenile Justice Program Director
PO Box 316
Bolinas, CA 94924
or via email:
(415) 388-6666, fax (415) 388-6415