At the start of 2019, the Children’s Defense Fund-California, Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (CJCJ), Motivating Individual Leadership for Public Advancement (MILPA), and National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) joined together to share an informational guide for youth in local juvenile justice facilities!
Recent revisions to California’s Title 15 and 24 regulations — the minimum standards for the roughly 124 county lock-ups for youth — include critical changes to better serve and protect justice-involved youth.
Advocates join together at the BSCC to improve Title 15 and 24 regulations in support of youth.
In partnership with advocates from across the state, CJCJ called for the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC), the powerful state agency responsible for revising the Title 15 and 24 standards, to implement rules that guarantee safety for young people confined in juvenile halls and camps, allow them to see their loved ones, and afford them basic protections.
CJCJ actively participated in this process by surveying youth, serving on a facility standards workgroup, and engaging stakeholders in drafting recommended changes to the standards. Advocacy throughout the BSCC’s juvenile justice facility regulations process culminated in stronger standards four California’s young people.
The informational guide includes updates to youths’ rights, such as:
- Youth have the right to 2 free phone calls, a shower, food, and more upon admission.
- Youth cannot be handcuffed or shackled as punishment.
- Youth can never be handcuffed or shackled to a wall, floor, or chair.
- Youth who are pregnant can never be handcuffed or shackled.
- Youth who are pepper sprayed cannot be left alone until negative physical reactions have stopped.
- Youth cannot be punished for refusing to take psychotropic medications.
- Youth are required to receive their own set on new cloth underwear.
- Youth are required to receive more than one blanket if they ask.
- Youths’ grievances must be responded to within three weekdays.
- Youth who identify as LGBTQI have additional protections regarding unit placement, discriminatory practices, and gender identity.
- Youth already had the right to visit with parents or guardians. Now, youth have the right to visit with their children too.
- Youths’ family members cannot be denied visitation solely because they have a criminal record.
- Group punishment is not allowed.
- Youth always have the right to get an education.
Read the guide: New Rights for Youth in Juvenile Halls, Ranches & Camps »
Contact: For more information about this topic or to schedule an interview, please contact CJCJ Communications at (415) 621‑5661 x. 103 or cjcjmedia@cjcj.org.