A special request from Books Not Bars: Email your Assemblymember! Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2007 12:59:03 -0400 (EDT) PLEASE FORWARD ** PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY ** PLEASE FORWARD We are sending you a special e-mail because, according to our records, your representative is key to shutting down the CYA! AB1655, a bill to close CYA and move kids back to the counties is being heard by the Assembly Public Safety Committee this Tuesday, April 24th. Your representative sits on that committee, so they need to hear from you. It's easy to send an e-mail asking for support at this crucial moment. Just click here: http://www.ellabakercenter.org/closecyaemail In case you missed our last e-mail, here's what's going on: It's an extremely exciting time for us here at Books Not Bars. We've done what no one thought we could: sponsored legislation to close the CYA! Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Sally Lieber (D-San Jose) has introduced AB 1655. This bill would get rid of California's Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ—formerly called the CYA) in two years! It would provide that counties should get money to serve youth locally. We're dizzy with excitement, but we need your help. This bill will go nowhere if it doesn't pass the Assembly Public Safety Committee hearing this Tuesday, April 24. According to our files, you live in the district of one of the Committee members. That means your voice is especially powerful, especially right now. Legislators need to hear from YOU that closing DJJ is essential for our youth, their families, and the public. Please email your representative TODAY, and ask your neighbors to sign on, too. We've made it easy--just click here: http://www.ellabakercenter.org/closecyaemail Tell lawmakers that DJJ is an expensive waste of young lives and our tax money. Hundreds of millions of dollars have poured into reform efforts that have gone nowhere. DJJ was first ordered to revamp itself 3 years ago. But as recently as late February, California's Inspector General reported that DJJ still locks kids up for 21 or more hours a day, and offers almost no education or counseling. California must move to the Missouri model of small, treatment centers that actually help youth, instead of adding damage to damage. Your e-mail will show lawmakers that Californians are with us in demanding better for our youth. AB 1655 would make history as the first step in transforming the one of the nation's worst juvenile corrections systems. Be an essential part of that history. E-mail your Assemblyperson today! Background: The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) has been the center of scandal for decades. Its eight enormous, isolated, violence-racked prisons are notoriously unable to rehabilitate youth. In the 2004 Farrell v. Tilton lawsuit against the DJJ, the court ordered extensive reforms of "virtually every aspect of the State juvenile justice system." However, the state's Inspector General reported in February of this year that DJJ continues to fail the youth at its largest facility, Heman G. Stark. The Inspector catalogued persistent dangers that were first identified two years ago, including lockup of youth for 21 hours or more daily, little to no education or counseling services, and "an environment conducive to suicide attempts." In the past three years, five young people have died while under DJJ's care, underscoring the urgency of DJJ's continuing crisis. Despite the Farrell-mandated reforms and a shrinking youth population inside, violence in DJJ facilities continues to rise. Last year, Governor Schwarzenegger allocated over $100 million for DJJ reform, but the Division failed to make significant strides. This year, the Governor cut funding for reform in the 2007-08 budget and proposed to transfer almost half of DJJ's current population back to the counties. At this point, hope for reforming the existing system appears to be all but lost. The time for a completely new approach is now. AB 1655 would open the way for a locally and regionally controlled system that has proven itself in eleven different states. These states have adopted a therapeutic mental health approach to juvenile justice, closed their antiquated "training school" prisons, and regionalized services across the juvenile justice continuum. Missouri, for example, closed their youth prisons in the 1970's and today has one of the highest success rates in the country. Missouri's youth recidivism rate is only 15.7%, compared to California's 74%. Furthermore, the price tag for programs in these states is lower than California's. Missouri, for example, spends only $26,811 per youth compared to California's $216,081 proposed annual expenditure per youth. * * * * * * The Ella Baker Center can't survive without the support of people like you. Please take a moment to support us today: http://www.ellabakercenter.org/donate * Not on our list-serve yet? (Maybe this message was forwarded to you.) Sign up to get e-mail updates directly by going to http://www.ellabakercenter.org/subscribe * To unsubscribe from this list, follow this link: http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/EBC/unsubscribe.jsp?unsubscribe * Update your preferences or contact information here: http://www.demaction.org/EBC/profile (Note: The first time you go to update your preferences, you must first create a login and password.) /*Your email ID. --*/