Santa Clara County opened its juvenile hall alternative for low level offenders to much fanfare three years ago.
Members of Congress pledged seed money. The probation chief declared that the anti-crime initiative, an evening reporting center where troubled kids could get after school counseling, would avoid costly jail time. Judge Richard Loftus, then head of the Superior Court’s delinquency division, proclaimed: “One of the most exciting things about Santa Clara County is it’s a place of innovation — this is one of those efforts.” That same evening reporting center now is expected to close with far less hoopla in July. A victim of budget cuts — and what some describe as a halfhearted commitment from local law enforcement — the San Jose center is not expected to receive additional funding.
“It’s just really, really sad,” said Patricia Chiapellone, executive director of the Alum Rock Counseling Center, which runs the program. Shutting down “is doing a disservice to this population of youth.”
But Chiapellone has little ammunition for argument, as supervisors weigh a final decision to cut the center’s $325,000 annual local and state funding. Opened in September 2006, the reporting center was equipped to serve 24 teens ages 14 to 17, but it struggled to get half that many referred from probation officers and judges.
The 30-day program, run from 3 to 9 p.m. weekdays, was designed as an intervention for probation violators and those charged with minor offenses such as petty theft or drug use. At $62 a day per youth, the cost to the public was just over one-quarter of the price tag for a day spent locked up.
Teenagers interviewed by the Mercury News in 2007 spoke positively of their experiences at the San Jose center, which teaches accountability, empathy and better decision-making. Many sought alternatives to their dysfunctional families, saying they liked the consistency of a daily program that included meals and small-group sessions where someone cared about what happened that day. Kids used to skipping school and spending afternoons looking for cars to steal said the program helped them check their anger and impulsivity.
But for years, the program sat waiting for the teens to arrive. Five youth are enrolled this week, and three the next.
Those numbers — and the decision not to discover what went wrong and fix it — has many juvenile justice-watchers feeling bitter.
Retired Supervisor Blanca Alvarado, who spearheaded the county’s yearslong juvenile detention reform efforts, held up evening reporting as a centerpiece accomplishment. “The ERC was a wonderful, wonderful idea,” Alvarado said. “But I have come to believe that the probation department sabotaged our efforts to legitimately find and establish alternatives outside of juvenile hall.”
Juvenile detention experts say locking up young offenders tends to fuel rather than interrupt criminal behavior. But efforts at reform increasingly are meeting the harsh reality of dwindling public coffers. Santa Cruz officials, heralded as juvenile justice champions nationwide, say they too are likely to close their evening reporting center, although the program succeeded in reducing the juvenile hall population.
When Santa Clara County ‘s center opened in 2006, Probation Chief Sheila Mitchell declared, “Kids succeed in evening reporting centers.” But addressing supervisors in budget hearings last week, she described the center as “well-intentioned” but poorly executed.
“In 30 days, you really can’t change behavior,” she now says, noting that only half of kids enrolled in the program completed it. “It’s just kind of stopping it for the moment.”
Written by:Karen de Sa, San Jose Mercury News