November 14, 2022
YLC advocates for improved conditions for youth in California detention facilities
YLC staff attorneys participated in a CA Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) process along with advocates, youth and families directly impacted by CA’s juvenile justice system to provide important and necessary recommendations to revise standards to improve the safety and well-being of youth in detention and confinement settings. YLC serves on the BSCC’s Juvenile Titles 15 and 24 Regulations Revision Executive Steering Committee, and has spent the last year listening to youth, families and advocates about the harms youth are currently experiencing and their ideas for change.
YLC’s recommendations focus on:
- Eliminating the use of destructive chemical agents against youth (such as pepper spray) in juvenile facilities
- Improving case planning and transition/reentry planning for youth with extended stays in juvenile facilities to return to their families and communities
- Ensuring youth in juvenile facilities must have regular, no-cost contact with their families while incarcerated
- Developing new regulations specific to new Secure Youth Treatment Facilities, including a requirement that staff delivering treatment services be qualified to provide them, and for county camps and ranches
- Ensuring that youth are aware of and able to access the new Ombudsperson in the Office of Youth and Community Restoration to resolve concerns and complaints about conditions in facilities
To learn more about YLC’s recommendations, click here.
