Overview Cameo House Community Options for Youth (COY) Detention Diversion Advocacy Program (DDAP) Expert Witness, Court Navigation, & Sentencing Mitigation Services Juvenile Collaborative Reentry Unit (JCRU) No Violence Alliance (NoVA) Overview Technical Assistance California Sentencing Institute Next Generation Fellowship Legislation Transparency & Accountability

In this issue:

In honor of change-maker, Juidell Preston

CJCJ celebrates the life of our friend and caring leader, Juidell Preston, who passed away August 6th2016

After overcoming her own challenges in life, Juidell devoted her passion and energy to helping others. As a CJCJ No Violence Alliance (NoVA) senior case manager, she relentlessly served our San Francisco community and supported individuals with violent pasts to reenter our community positively,” as she once said. 

She believed that supporting people in NoVA required help from the whole community. It was through this community-driven approach that she connected so strongly with her NoVA clients. Juidell was so real and honest with the people she worked with that the strength of her words could change the direction of their lives. Her commitment to, and compassion for, her clients enabled those who once felt hopeless and alone to know that now someone genuinely cared about them. 

Juidell worked every day to instill the concept of an improved life in the minds of the people she worked with — colleagues and clients alike — and hundreds of us are better off today because of her. Juidell left us with these words of wisdom: There’s nothing you can do about the past, but you can build for the future.”

Learn more about Juidell Preston and her impact on our community »

To make a contribution to Juidell’s family, please visit CJCJ’s donation page and designate your gift to Juidell’s family.”

CJCJ youth clients learn new skills in the High Sierras

Justice-involved youth attend an overnight summer camp in Yosemite National Park’s Camp Mather

This month, CJCJ’s Youth Justice Mentoring Program (YJM) staff and clients attended an annual camping trip to Camp Mather, where they participated in outdoor recreational activities, such as horseback riding, team sports, paddle boarding, and talent shows. The Camp Mather outing is made possible through a partnership between community-based organizations and San Francisco’s Recreation & Parks, Juvenile Probation, law enforcement and other city agencies. 

Camp Mather is a unique opportunity because the kids get the chance to interact with criminal justice staff outside of their professional realm,” said YJM Mentoring Coordinator, Victor Washington. I witnessed youth challenging themselves,” said Mentoring Coordinator, Yessenia Pena Ruiz. It’s amazing to see young people empower themselves and accomplish what they thought was impossible!”

CJCJ clients and other youth who do not have access to nature are able to explore Yosemite with peers from different backgrounds and neighborhoods, and are exposed to new experiences. One youth took a break from a couple of activities and told me their favorite part of the trip was not hearing guns at night,” said Lead Mentoring Coordinator Therese Turcios. 

Donate to support more youth outings »

Learn more about CJCJ’s juvenile justice services »

New CJCJ reports address juvenile justice issues in California

CJCJ released two reports: one chronicling deficient conditions in state youth correctional facilities, the other charting continuing drops in youth crime

On August 11th, CJCJ released Failure After Farrell: Violence and Inadequate Mental Health Care in California’s Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). This report finds that, in California’s state youth corrections system, violence has increased, gang culture is pervasive, and mental health treatment is at times nonexistent.

Though DJJ’s population dropped by about 30 percent in the last five years, overall violence has increased, with youth-on-youth injuries increasing by 86 percent and attacks against youth increasing 40 percent. Youth in the general population of a DJJ facility were receiving no psychological treatment as of autumn 2015 and, due to a consistent lack of licensed mental health staff, DJJ transferred youth to adult prisons to receive treatment. 

This report follows the recent release of CJCJ Executive Director Daniel Macallair’s new book After the Doors Were Locked; A History of Youth Corrections in California and the Origins of 21st Century Reform, which details the cycle of failure and abuse in the state’s youth correctional facilities from the 1890s to present day. 

On August 16th, CJCJ also published a fact sheet, California’s Youth and Young Adult Arrest Rates Continue a Historic Decline, documenting 2015 as another year of decreasing youth crime. The fact sheet shows that the total arrest rate of young people under age 25 fell by 8 percent between 2014 and 2015, to 66 percent below the level reported in 1978. Arrest rates for youth under 12 and ages 12 to 14 have fallen especially dramatically since 1978, dropping by 95 percent and 82 percent, respectively.

Purchase After the Doors Were Locked » Read more about Failure After Farrell: Violence and Inadequate Mental Health Care in California’s Division of Juvenile Justice »

Read the fact sheet California’s Youth and Young Adult Arrest Rates Continue a Historic Decline »

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