The Fight Over Preston Youth Correctional Facility

On occasion, we have covered the abysmal state of juvenile prisons in California. Since our juvenile prison population has been declining, Some of them, like the juvenile institution in Chino, have been closed and repurposed into adult incarceration facilities. The Books Not Bars project at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights lists some of the atrocious occurrences in these institutions:

• Young people locked in 20- to 23-hour-a-day solitary confinement for days, weeks and months on end;
• Young people locked in 4'x4' cages for temporary detention;
• Guard and staff abuse, neglect, manipulation, and humiliation of the young people in their care;
• Rampant sexual assault;
• Guard/staff abuse of chemical weapons against the young people;
• Virtually non-existent care for young people with mental health or substance abuse needs;
• Shocking negligence in medical care, especially emergency care;
• Woefully inadequate educational programming;
• A culture and atmosphere of constant intimidation, isolation, fear and violence;
• Five deaths of young people in less than three years.

Their report states,

Stark and Preston youth prisons are the most severe examples of the DJJ’s continuing failures, where daily chaos prevents most youth from participating in programs. Even where programs are administered with regularity, almost no programming proven to reduce recidivism is available, and at many prisons, only a small minority of youth participates. The DJJ has so dramatically failed to comply with court-ordered remedial plans that in 2008, plaintiffs sought a receiver to take over the reforms.

Today's Chron article is about one of these most notorious juvenile facilities, Preston Youth Correctional Facility. And, it appears that the hurdle in the path of doing the right thing and closing Preston is a lawmaker concerned about job losses among her constituents.

Preston, located an hour northeast of Stockton, houses just 224 youths and, as one of the state's oldest correctional facilities, is in terrible condition. Most of the youths serving time there are hours away from their families.

The facility employs about 450 people in a county with just 38,000 residents and a 12.4 percent unemployment rate. Closing it would save the state $30 million this fiscal year and more in future years, officials estimate.

"It's like closing a military base," said Don Specter, director of the Prison Law Office. "People want to keep it just for jobs, but that shouldn't be the reason that the state or government implements a program."

Huber's arguments against the closure are as follows:

Huber said the closure of Preston would "kill an entire county," because it is one of the largest employers in the area.

"This is going to turn the city of Ione into Flint, Mich.," Huber said, referring to the depressing impacts the closure of General Motors facilities had on that company town 20 years ago. "I'm not disagreeing with the fact that a facility needs to be closed ... the question is how do we decide which is the best facility to close."

Huber contends that Preston has higher graduation rates than other youth facilities; is best complying with the settlement that came out of the 2003 lawsuit; and, because of its dorm settings, offers a better setting for youths.

"The five facilities we have are like a school district," she said. "I think Preston is the best school - if you have to save $30 million, do you close the best-performing school?"

I recommend reading the entire article - it provides more information on Preston, quoting references to it as a "dungeon".