Report says Calif. should end juvenile prisons

The regional centers would hold only the most dangerous offenders under the proposal unveiled Monday by the watchdog Little Hoover Commission. Less serious offenders would be housed at local juvenile halls.

Commissioners said the state also should end its three-year experiment with combining youth and adult prisons under the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Authority over youth prisons would be placed under an Office of Juvenile Justice reporting to the governor until the state ends its involvement.

The report also suggests that the youth prisons do little in the way of rehabilitation, saying three of four freed young offenders commit new crimes within three years.

"Californians may fairly ask what they are getting for this outlay and whether other strategies can better deliver public safety and youth rehabilitation," commission chairman Daniel Hancock wrote.

It will cost taxpayers $378 million next year to care for the state's 1,500 juvenile inmates, the panel said in a report to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders.

A law that took effect in September already requires the state to transfer all but the most serious offenders to counties' jurisdiction.

That leaves state taxpayers paying for six large, aging institutions that hold far fewer offenders, commissioners said. They said the state will have to pay to replace those crumbling youth prisons unless the system is changed.

The report said giving counties responsibility for housing juvenile offenders would bring substantial savings but doesn't estimate how much that would be.

The commission found that the state has made some progress in reforming its youth prison system, which some national experts have described as draconian. Next week, an Alameda County judge will consider whether those reforms are taking too long. If so, the judge might appoint a receiver with broad oversight powers.