Ledger-Dispatch

By Helen Bonner=20

Stubborn rumors persist that the = Preston Youth=20 Correctional Facility in Ione may close, despite state officials = saying=20 nothing has been decided.

Photo by: Helen = Bonner
Recent=20 talk has circulated that one of Ione's most iconic institutions may = close after=20 114 years, much to the concern of local officials who have had enough of = unexpected losses.

References to the Preston Youth Correctional = Facility=20 were made at last week's Amador County Board of Supervisors meeting, = where=20 District 2 Supervisor Richard Forster reported that the governor has = asked state=20 corrections officials to close at least one facility, with Preston and = two other=20 facilities at that top of the list. This was confirmed by a conversation = between=20 Sen. Dave Cox (R-Fair Oaks) and Matthew Cate, secretary of the = California=20 Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Forster told the Ledger=20 Dispatch.

According to Forster, Cox told the secretary that, = because of=20 Preston's longevity in Ione - the institution opened in 1894 as a reform = school=20 and currently serves as a reception center for wards from across = Northern=20 California - Ione had become a "company" town.

"I provided the = initial=20 information to Sen. Cox because of the devastating effect the closure of = that=20 facility will have on the city of Ione and the county of Amador," = explained=20 Forster, whose district includes Ione. "Secretary Cate told Sen. Cox = that the=20 ultimate decision on a closure is his to make."

Bill Sessa, a = spokesman=20 for the state Corrections Department, assured the Ledger Dispatch on = Thursday=20 that there were no present plans to close the historic facility, which = went from=20 notorious reform school to a place that receives youthful offenders and = offers=20 education and treatment programs. "But there will certainly be major = changes,"=20 he added.

Mark Bonini, Amador County's chief probation officer = and a=20 member of the Amador Law Enforcement Managerial Committee, confirmed = that there=20 has been no official announcement of closing Preston, "but that doesn't = mean it=20 won't happen."

If Preston does close, it won't effect the = treatment of=20 local juvenile offenders, Bonini explained. "Preston juveniles are from=20 elsewhere in the state, but it will certainly affect the people who work = there."=20 Preston has as many as 900 offenders, which it receives from Northern = California=20 counties through the state Division of Juvenile Justice, once a separate = department known as California Youth Authority. Preston employs 400 = correctional=20 officers and staff.

Cox's office and CDCR are evaluating the = situation,=20 but no decisions have been made, Forster shared.

More local = control,=20 burden

The rumors surrounding Preston are endemic of a larger = conversation going on about the way juvenile justice is=20 administered.

Facilities such as Preston and the Pine Grove Youth = Conservation Camp will be restructured as individual counties take on = new=20 responsibilities for juvenile offenders formerly handled by the=20 state.

"Here's the framework," Sessa began. After a class action = lawsuit=20 filed in 2003 found CYA programs for juvenile offenders lacking, state = courts=20 and the criminal justice system agreed to six aspects of the remedial = juvenile=20 program. Each plan covered a different aspect: education, sex education = and=20 treatment, physical and mental disabilities, health care, safety and = welfare,=20 and mental health.

"Our primary focus is treatment, not = punishment,"=20 Sessa said. "Rehab is the whole purpose. There have been dramatic = improvements=20 in the last year and a half."

Three weeks ago, the court that = oversees=20 juvenile justice and the prison law office agreed to turn some = responsibilities=20 over to counties, arguing it was in the best interest of the wards to = have=20 available the support of family and friends. This support is not = available for=20 violent or disabled wards at the county levels, Sessa said. Counties = don't have=20 facilities for that, but the state does. The separation of roles allows = for=20 fewer wards in each area and monies can be allotted to the counties=20 accordingly.

"As we realign the population, some youth more prone = to=20 violence than others are segregated out, but we keep them in the = system," Sessa=20 said. "The most violent are now in Chino, which has security systems in = place to=20 handle them. The remaining offenders are now more safe and=20 orderly."

"There have already been dramatic improvements," added = Bonini.=20 "The youth authority (now juvenile justice system) has raised the bar = for=20 inmates they will take into state facilities so more of them are left = with us,=20 lowering the number of offenders and enabling us to work with them at = the local=20 level."

Those who are local and are good candidates for = rehabilitation=20 will remain the responsibility of the county, but with state = funding.

"It=20 has always been our philosophy to keep them here in the community, = unless their=20 acts or problems are so severe we don't have the resources they need," = Bonini=20 explained. "In the last four years, we have sent only four juveniles to = larger=20 facilities."

Extreme cases involving offenders whose needs are = greater=20 than the county has facilities for - the mentally ill, for example - = will go to=20 specialized facilities elsewhere in the state. Who goes to Preston is = not based=20 on the crime committed, but on their potential for violence and=20 disobedience.

On whether the juvenile justice system is going to = cease to=20 exist in its current form, Sessa said, "That's not the = plan."

An=20 uncertain future

Rumors of Preston's closure might have been=20 triggered by a Little Hoover Commission report released last = July.

It=20 called on the state to eliminate its juvenile justice system by 2011 and = urged=20 the governor and legislature to "create the groundwork for court-run,=20 state-funded regional rehabilitation facilities for high-risk, high-need = juvenile offenders and for the eventual elimination of state juvenile = justice=20 operations."

The commission claimed "the state is spending half a = billion=20 dollars annually on a youth offender population that has declined from = 10,000 in=20 state facilities a decade ago to fewer than 2,000 today."

This = startling=20 figure does not mean juvenile arrests have gone down, Sessa explained. = It means=20 that large numbers of offenders have been moved to other facilities or = to other=20 types of treatment.

The Little Hoover Commission's = recommendations have=20 not yet been mandated. The present reforms are based mainly on court = orders in=20 2003, mandates that followed several court cases in which the state was = sued for=20 inadequate service to juveniles.

Bonini said improvements have = been=20 taking place over the last few years.

A 2004 state Supreme Court = ruling=20 mandated a plan to be implemented the following year, he said. It would = focus on=20 six categories: the mentally ill or disabled, sex offenders, violent = offenders,=20 the safety and welfare of offenders, the medical needs of offenders, and = education.

In last month's report to the state, Amador County = showed=20 record compliance with court-mandated improvements.

"We'd done 90 = percent=20 of what we agreed to do, in all six areas, even though the DJJ money = didn't come=20 until 2006," Bonini said. "We have both in-home services, like = counseling, and=20 out-of home services, like the (Pine Grove) camp. We haven't sent a = juvenile to=20 prison in at least four years."

Where will the money come from as = counties like Amador, already short on funds, take on more = court-mandated=20 responsibilities?

The state was ordered by the courts to provide = funds to=20 put these programs in place. However, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Dec. = 31=20 budget report cuts funding from many programs, including about $40 = million in=20 programs for juvenile offenders.

Helen Bonner
Ledger Dispatch Contributor=20