When I drove around the Boys Ranch in Morgan Hill a month ago, I expected some sort of military-style, boot-camp atmosphere. Almost all of the young men I knew who went there years ago had run from the Ranch like it was part of the protocol: Go to “the Hall,” then the Ranch, and run from the Ranch back to the Hall. I figured there had to be a reason, something unacceptable that would make youth run when they knew for sure they would get caught. However, after talking to dozens of youngsters as to why they ran, it turns out it wasn’t that deep—it was just easy. The other rationale was that the Ranch wasn’t any better than the Hall—there was no qualitative difference, so the punishment of returning to the Hall served no deterring purpose.
All that has changed; now there’s a fence, and the Ranch is a world apart from the Hall. After staff made a visit in 2005 to the highly acclaimed Missouri Youth Detention Facility, James Ranch re-invented itself into a place that emphasizes programs for youth and “rehabilitation” rather than punishment. They dramatically shifted their staff-to-youth ratio, bringing it to twelve youths to every two staff members (they used to have six staff for ninety youth), and changed the actual facilities to match their new philosophy. The youths are housed in “pods” which look like college dorms. If you didn’t drive through a high gate with a police car posted feet away, you would think you are at a summer camp.
But it’s not all just cosmetic changes. The young man I went to visit told the whole story. When he was at the Hall, he was uncommunicative, with a glazed look in his eyes. He had more questions about what was happening on the outside, rather than talking about what was going on with him. At the Ranch he was the opposite, talking nonstop about his auto mechanics class and how he’s going to try to graduate by the time he’s finished with the program. When presented with opportunities through the vocational programs where staff members have proven to him that they believe in his abilities, his entire self-perception changed. His tangles with the law seem much more likely to be in his rearview mirror.
This week, the Board of Supervisors will be discussing the possibility of almost doubling the number of juveniles housed at the ranch. But while the transformation at the Ranch has been impressive, the size increase would destroy what made it work to begin with. In short, a population jump would unravel any positive steps that have occurred in the past few years. Talking to the staff, it is the limited number of youths housed at the Ranch—allowing them the time to build relationships with the young men—that has facilitated most of the improvements. Expansion would take it back to the past era they have worked so hard to leave behind.
The case against the expansion of the Ranch is strengthened by the financial impracticalities of the county putting another $2 million into a budget that is already in a $173 million deficit. Plus, what is expanding incarceration capacity saying about county and city investments in crime reduction and gang prevention programs? Expanding the Ranch would be an admission by local politicians that the public messaging of crime prevention, rather than incarceration, was just that—words with no intent of policy commitments. The meetings, forums and requests to gather community input might as well not have happened.
The shift towards the Missouri model is working. However, the answer is not to scale the boys Ranch, but rather work towards transforming the entire juvenile justice system, with the most urgent change being the Hall, which is bursting at the seams and just as problematic as ever. Why can’t the Hall be more like the Ranch? The Ranch has served the function of a pilot program in Santa Clara County. We know that it works. It is time for the Hall to catch up.
Great column Raj! You are right about how archaic our juvenile justice system is and about the changes we need to make to the Hall. In my work with the Victim Offender Program, I visited youth at the Hall routinely. In working with these youth offenders I was always amazed at the talents and skills these kids had, and how it seemed to me that deep down all they really wanted was someone to honestly care about them as a person.
I used to tease by telling them if they just used their skills for good instead of evil the world could be their oyster. I remember feeling very proud that several of them took my advice and enrolled in courses that enhanced their computer, electronic, and other in demand skills to work toward a better tomorrow. I honestly believe if you offer people hope, you get positive things in return, if you offer negative and punitive things then that is what you get back.
Okay, I’ll admit that I have been deeply touched when listening to children describe the fantasy world of their dreams, but absent a fearless dose of ecstasy, Raj’s little fairy tale leaves me shaking my head in wonder and dismay.
“… now there’s a fence.”
—Will wonders never cease? Raj recognizes the wisdom of restraining the freedom of criminals, putting him in the philosophical company of generations of white, conservative cops, judges, and jailers. The communists who taught you sociology in college must be wondering where they failed you.
“… James Ranch re-invented itself into a place that emphasizes programs for youth and “rehabilitation” rather than punishment. They dramatically shifted their staff-to-youth ratio, bringing it to twelve youths to every two staff members…”
—The staff may be emphasizing something, but it is not offering “programs for youth.” School, little league, cub scouts, Boy’s Club: these are “programs for youth,” and they’ve been available and all but free in San Jose for a very longer time. No, what the Ranch offers are programs for young criminals, programs that are hugely expensive and have one other very large strike against them: they exist in an artificially-controlled environment that the “students” will never find in the outside world. “Success” achieved in a custodial environment is no more intranssient than is sobriety amongst sailors awaiting liberty. The proof of such programs cannot be measured until the convicts are released back into the very environment in which they failed—surrounded by the same miserable, resentful, self-destructive people. But the cost, that’s another story: it can be measured, and it is prohibitive. We simply can raise enough tax dollars to fix all the human failures the worst among us are producing.
” … you would think you are at a summer camp.”
—That is, unless you recognized one of the young campers as the bastard that stabbed your son, or carjacked your wife, or robbed your store.
“When presented with opportunities through the vocational programs where staff members have proven to him that they believe in his abilities, his entire self-perception changed.”
—Oh my! They believed in his abilities! That must be the secret! Tell a thug enough times, “You’re good enough, you’re smart enough… people like you,” and presto!—instant rehabilitation. Brings to mind the case of Jack Henry Abbott, the convicted murderer released upon society after Norman Mailer saw that same promising glaze in his eyes. Abbott didn’t handle it well, despite all the help, success, and acclaim that The Big Apple could bestow upon him. So he reverted to what he did best, murder. Or, for those who enjoy a little local flavor, how about the parolee who attended SJSU via the scholarship-for-convicts program (based on the dollars and cents comparison of four years in college versus four years in the joint). I don’t remember his major, but he minored in rape, and wasn’t caught until after he raped and brutally murdered a sweet old woman in the Naglee Park area.
“The shift towards the Missouri model is working.”
—Don’t bet the farm on that, Raj – or even the Ranch.
Oh come on finfan. What’s the matter with you? Don’t you get it? Wise old Raj has been around and HE gets it. We MUST shift toward the Missouri model.
After all, Missouri loves company!
Kathleen,
Juvenile offenders are treated very differently these days. It has been several decades since status offenders (runaways, truants, etc) have been subjected to criminal penalties. The inmates in the Hall and at the Ranch are criminals. As for “low risk” offenses such as shoplifting, vandalism, etc, those kids are not even booked into the hall when apprehended: they are cited and released. In fact, absent extenuating circumstances, if the burglar the cops catch running from your house, or the car thief caught driving your car is under eighteen, county policy dictates that the offender be ticketed—not booked, thanks to Blanca Alvarado’s efforts to lower the incarceration rate of Hispanic juveniles (I guess she figured there was no other way).
Today kids wind-up in custody because of serious, incorrigible behavior. This new approach (actually, recycled) has already got the budget alarms sounding, and the realities of the budget will not be moved by good intentions, wishful thinking, or the glazed eyes of a young man visualizing a future.
#2- Frustrated Finfan,
I agree that hardened criminals don’t deserve to be treated like Gods, regardless of their age. I am a big believer in tough love, paying the piper, and taking personal responsibility for ones choices. Having said that as I understand it, youth that are sent to the Ranch are not hardened criminals. They are usually first time misdemeanor offenders, or kids that are seen as low risk offenders. They are children that range from ages 13-to 18 years old.
Hardened criminals, who have committed felonies like murder, rape, grand theft, etc., are in the Hall or are sent to adult jails, not to the Ranch. These are kids that have a long history of violence etc., and that have had plenty of chances to get their head straight, sort of.
The kids that are first time offenders, or have low risk offenses like shop lifting, running a way from home repeatedly, etc. deserve a chance at a better life, an education, a skill that will keep them off Welfare like many of their parents, and off the streets. At some point we have to look at what motivates these kids to get in trouble, attack it, address it, and actually DO something about it to prevent it. Punishment is a must yes, but prevention is also a have to do too.
I can tell you that after going through a “Scared Straight” experience myself when I was a youth, that I am pretty grateful for the 2nd chance I got. I’m glad I wasn’t thrown a way into the abyss just because I made some bad choices when I was young and dumb.
Raj,
Could you please give us some background on the differences between kids in the Ranch, and kids in the Hall? I think it would be a great opportunity to help educate people who aren’t familiar with the Juvenile Justice System. Thanks.
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_9609815
#5-Frustrated Finfan- With all due respect, may I ask where you are getting your information from? I have worked with the Juvenile Justice System for at least seven years, and what you have said in your post does not seem in line with my first hand experience. I served on the Neighborhood Accountability Board (NAB) for 2 years, the NAB Council; I was on the County’s Juvenile Justice Reform Committee for a year, and in Victim Offender for 5 years. I have been working with the Net Work For A Hate Free Community for over 3 years now as well. My experience in those areas leads me to believe there is a lot wrong with the Juvenile Justice System. Discrimination is the most evident problem I see.
For example, the NAB Board was set up to deal with the kids in our neighborhoods that got cited for misdemeanor crimes. While on the NAB, I was also working with the Victim Offender Program. Most of these kids I dealt with through the Victim Offender Program (VOMP) were in the Hall or on the Ranch. Here is what I personally observed:
Kids who were repeat offenders in well to do families in nice neighborhoods, even if they were of color got cited, not arrested and taken to the hall. Kids who were poor and of color AND many first time offenders of misdemeanors were sent to the Hall or the Ranch! I noticed this trend in case after case. I found that kids whose parents didn’t speak English, or single mothers were treated far more harshly than kids who’s parents had some money, education, and oh yeah, could afford a lawyer.
I had many white kids who were poor come through the VOMP program. They were arrested their first time not cited for misdemeanor crimes. (Including running a way repeatedly.) Rarely EVER were well off-white kids arrested even though they were repeat offenders. Well off kids of color who had attorneys did not get arrested either, just cited or put on house arrest.
I was so disturbed by this that I went to our Director Jim McEntee and showed him some stats I had been gathering. Since he was already dealing with complaints by officials, leaders of non-profits, and members of the community, he formed a Juvenile Justice Reform Committee to address and look into this issue. After we conducted a year of research, held two public forums on this topic, and put together a report that went to the BOS, the BOS took Juvenile Probation etc. under their wing. Since they took over, improvements have been made very slowly.
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_9620698
Kathleen,
—Regarding status offenders such as runaways and truants, this from the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 2002:
Deinstitutionalization of Status Offenders (JJDPA Section 223 (a) [11]):
Minors who are charged with only a status offense (Welfare and Institutions Code [WIC] § 601) or who are nonoffenders (WIC § 300) must not be held in secure detention.
This has been the law for decades. A friend who used to work at the Children’s Shelter said that on Friday and Saturday nights she and other employees would man the doors so that they could beg and plead with the whored-up young female wards of the court not to break the rules and go out for the night (after which the staff would call the PD and file a handful of missing persons reports).
—Two years ago I pasted the “objectives” of the county’s Juvenile Detention Reform here at SJI, along with a link to the pdf from which I quoted. The first objective, which demonstrates Supervisor Alvarado’s real interest, was:
“To reduce the disproportionate confinement of minority youth.”
You can read the blog at:
http://www.sanjoseinside.com/sji/blog/entries/single_gal_and_mardi_gras/
For some reason the county’s pdf link no longer works. The policy has taken much of the sting out of getting arrested, a sting that was especially beneficial to still-salvageable teens testing boundaries. Anyway, if you doubt what I posted regarding the issuing of citations for crimes as serious as burglary and auto theft, I suggest you speak with a police officer (not a politicized command officer) or probation officer (who’ve been stripped of much of their power to violate their charges).
#8- Thank you for letting me know your sources. I appreciate hearing a differing perspective. Again, I can only go by what I’ve seen in this area, but I do believe you.
I know some pretty hardened criminals, not just juveniles by the way, are being cited and let go for serious crimes. I think it has a lot to do with jail overcrowding, and a judicial system that is overwhelmed with cases. That in and of its self deeply concerns and sickens me.
I also know your friend who works in the shelter is telling the truth too. I’ve had cases like that myself. I guess there are those who have to learn the hard way.
“To reduce the disproportionate confinement of minority youth.”
I think I understand to some degree what Blanca meant by this. During our study of this issue on the committee, we noticed that youth of color who had the same exact history of crime were arrested and jailed compared to whites. In that sense I agree with Blanca. The discrimination I saw in the Juvenile System is concerning. I saw first hand, some well of white kids getting a way with things that if I were a judge, I’d have locked them up just to wipe the smirk off their arrogant little faces.
I must say one thing about this though, when I see arguments that more people of color are arrested than whites in “general,” I disagree because the populace of whites verses people of color is vastly different. Statistically, more people of color than whites inhabit San Jose so the disproportionate argument becomes suspect in terms of its accuracy. Of course more people of color are being confined if there are more people of color committing crimes!
Any way, I think you and I agree that criminals must pay their debt to society regardless of age, or color. We just have some division in what that punishment would look like in certain cases.
What efforts are being made to target the parents of these offenders? Kids are pretty well molded before they reach kindergarten. After that, it’s more and more difficult to reverse their descent into “the system”.
We license all sorts of professions. Any two assholes can become parents, and bring more misery into the world.
#10-JMO,
“Any two assholes can become parents, and bring more misery into the world.”
I absolutely agree. I think there should be an organization like Animal Rescue Groups who put perspective parents through a complete both oral and written examination to see if they even qualify to hold the lives of a living being in their hands. They should have to take classes, and foster a child for say 3 months. If they fail any part of this process, they should be subjected to mandatory spay/neuter to insure that further procreation of their kind is prohibited!
#11 Josef Mengele is smiling in his grave.
“frustrated finfan” – Might I suggest you sign up to work with the FLY program and meet some of these “criminals” that you just love to hate? You know nothing. Shame on you. I work with these kids, see where they grow up and what challenges they face… kids getting evicted from their homes, kids who steal with their parents permission, kids who are in and out of foster homes, kids who are victims of sexual abuse, etc. Kids that are born crack babies… If you think stealing DVDs and using drugs and taking another kids IPOD are not landing kids at the ranch, you are just plain ignorant.
As for the parents of these young juveniles, thanks to absurd laws such as the Three Strikes laws and lack of resources, some of them are in jail and/or prison. So the kids end up out on the streets. Then they go from juvenile court to adult court, and get sent away for 20+ for robberies and gang cases. If you think that is right, that is fair.. where the kids really never stood a chance, then I envy your lack of concern because for me, these issues keep me up at night.
Shame on you. And people wonder why the next generation and our country is in trouble. Here’s to the future… Cheers.
P.S. And Kathleen, shame on you for getting dragged into this… your spay/neuter comment was mean-spirited and despicable.
#13-Anonymous in San Jose, CA,
“Your spay/neuter comment was mean-spirited and despicable.” I work with these children too, and I think some of their parents should be spayed/neutered and prohibited from having children! I’m not the least bit ashamed of my statement.
While you are a seemingly a very caring, and compassionate person, I think you are missing the point and unfairly judging people who don’t want to see children hurt. There are too many crack heads, sexually and emotionally abusive parents walking the planet. How do you think most of these kids (Kids that you and I love and care for.) end up in the Juvenile Justice system? It certainly doesn’t stem from good parenting!
Anonymous,
You assume far too much.
I should meet some criminals? I spent the first two decades of my life surrounded by them. I remember my dismay at watching a number of once easygoing friends turn sullen and anti-social after puberty, how they began to ignore family rules and disrespect their mothers, spend their school hours in a stupor, emulate the style and mannerisms of ex-cons and hoodlums, and, almost overnight, acquire girlfriends and probation officers.
I love to hate? Interesting take, one that says a lot more about you than it does about me. In your world (a very crowded one I’m sorry to say) seeing a criminal as anything other than a victim of something is all it takes to qualify one as a hater. In other words, you have infinite tolerance for those who rob and rape and steal but have no tolerance—only names and insults, for those guilty of nothing more than having a different point of view.
I should see the challenges they face? I’m not inclined to view a life filled with challenges as a Get Out of Jail Free card. Perhaps it’s because I remember how in most dysfunctional families there would be only one or two of the six, eight, ten kids who would get into trouble. Challenges alone did not compel the few into delinquency, there was something else—something ugly and typically permanent. Something called heredity.
As for what it takes to land kids at the ranch: No one is at the ranch for just stealing a DVD. It is irresponsible and deceitful for you to portray the way the system might deal with a repeat offender in a manner intended to fool the public into thinking the juvenile justice system is sentencing first-time shoplifters to the Ranch. Plus, “taking another kids IPod” is called robbery—a crime for which incarceration is well-deserved, and one in which there should be zero compassion for the perpetrator (however I do have compassion for the “kid” you don’t seem to care about—the one robbed).
Look at your second paragraph: parents in jail or prison due to absurd laws? No, those parents are in prison because they are criminals, and in the case of Three Strikes violators, because they’ve proven themselves to be incorrigible predators on society. That they’ve chosen crime over responsible parenting is not society’s fault. In my book, they have by their actions proven themselves to be rotten, flawed people who are best kept segregated from the rest of us. It’s just too bad that we couldn’t lock them up before they reproduced.
Shame on me? For what, refusing to excuse a kid who has knowingly committed a serious crime, or has committed enough crimes to wind-up at the Ranch? For expecting that it be made clear to young criminals that not everybody out there wants to greet them with a forgiving hug, that their criminal past—and what they do with the next opportunity given them, will probably dictate the circumstances of the rest of their lives? You want them to have the love and understanding that may have been missing in their home life, and for some reason (one not based on the evidence) believe that the government can provide it. I’d rather the government do what it can unquestionably do, and that is to communicate clearly to these young offenders the harsh reality, that being that unless they change their ways our society will lock them up and forget about them forever—without losing a wink of sleep.
Anonymous-
Is it “fair”? It isn’t fair. It’s not fair that the young kid never had a chance. And it’s not fair that the young victim is dead. And it’s not fair that another kid was beaten for wearing the wrong color. Or that children can’t play in their own park because of the gangs.
The young criminals are not the only ones who got a raw deal here.
Challenges alone did not compel the few into delinquency, there was something else—something ugly and typically permanent. Something called heredity.
As usual, finfan takes us back to the 19th century with his “delinquency” gene theory.
While amusing, his constant rehash of this theory is getting old. All intelligent, progressive scientists now recognize that the number of bumps on an individual’s head is the only reliable indicator of the criminal element.
Dr. Frankenstein,
Would you please share with us the name of anyone from the 19th century, let alone a practitioner of phrenology, who used the word “gene” for anything but a shortened version of a common name? I’m always eager to learn new things.
And just in case you are:
http://www.lifestyleextra.com/ShowStory.asp?story=VT2513138N&news_headline=bad_behaviour_in_children_is_in_the_genes
Finfan, when I get jaded like you, I will leave the profession or I should be fired. These kids deserve better than to be surrounded by the likes of you. Why not lock them up when they are 5, because according to your “point of view”, they are born to be probationers. What are you talking about, obeying their mothers? How about when the kid’s Mom drives him or her to the local store and helps them steal DVDs? Or the kid with Down’s Syndrome who steals DVDs to IMPRESS his mother? As I said, you know nothing. You think the ranch is only for repeat offenders? How about marijuana smokers and kids who violate their curfew, but have only had one substantive offense? Think it doesn’t happen? Then you’re definitely not an insider. Instead of asking the government to build more prisons, why don’t you adopt one of these kids and see how well you do? Why not become a mentor and see how their life really is? If you truly worked with these kids, you wouldn’t say what you are saying. So don’t call me deceitful.. your posts speak for themselves. Esp. your post about the Three Strikes Law. How about this little scenario. A kid snatches another kid’s IPOD… IPOD’s recovered, victim suffers no injuries, IPOD is recovered, kid’s sorry and expresses remorse and it’s a first time offense, he is between 16 and 18… victim doesn’t want to prosecute. Are you telling me this kid should eat a robbery and have a strike follow him around for the REST of his life??? If he gets caught with meth or cocaine (16-2-3 offense) when he is 18 or 19 years old, thanks to the Three Strikes Law, he is now looking at MINIMUM of 32 months in PRISON unless a Judge strikes the “juvenile” strike. Yes folks, that is what you signed up. You seem to think that three strikes means… three actual serious or violent felonies… right? Wrong. Every drug addict who has a current NON-SERIOUS and NON-VIOLENT offense… if he has a strike somewhere in his past, faces DOUBLE the minimum time on the fabulous triad.
I feel sorry for the ignorant public. I can’t make you see what you don’t want to see. If you care enough, you will learn the truth.. it’s all over the place. Open your eyes, and look around you. Seriously, get your head out of the sand. Go sit in Dept. 24 one day during the Violation of Probation calendar… and tell me it’s a just system. Look at the recidivism rate, and tell me how building more prisons and sending drug addicts to prison is working.
Your head is so far in the sand, that all I can do is pity you. Honest to God. I feel sorry for you. Good night.
P.S. When your child or family member gets in trouble (God forbid), I hope you end up with someone like me to assist.. someone who cares about them and who won’t tell you your genes contributed to his or her delinquency.
Changes and reform that really is the major thing to do in able to achieve the track on juvenile justice system. But what would be the first step on the changes that a juvenile justice system would have?
http://www.teenbootcamps.org/