In front of the Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall, where he previously spent four years as a teenager, Raymond Goins joined more than 50 others to call for an end to youth incarceration in the county, yesterday. They claim the facility's conditions violate a state law passed in 2020 that forced counties to restructure juvenile halls by addressing racism and reducing recidivism rates, among other measures, according to the San José Spotlight.
SCC has had 3 years to implement a new plan to house young people in county following the closure of youth prison. We’ve been involved in the county process & w/ partners have voiced concerns w/ the process & the use of the current juvenile hall. JH is not a suitable facility. pic.twitter.com/BscrAGzJup
— SV De-Bug (@svdebug) June 15, 2023
Organizers at the rally argue that Santa Clara County is failing to fulfill the responsibilities outlined in the 2020 legislation, which mandated that counties adopt early intervention strategies to prevent youth from being incarcerated in the first place. Goins, who is now 42 years old and a community organizer for Silicon Valley De-Bug, shared his story of the challenges he faced as an incarcerated teenager and drew attention to the fact that conditions in the juvenile hall have not significantly improved since his time there, as reported by the San José Spotlight.
Reymundo Armendáriz, executive director of Community Agency for Resources Advocacy and Services in Gilroy, expressed concerns about the long-term consequences for youths who spend their formative years in juvenile halls, potentially making them susceptible to re-entering the criminal justice system later in life. Armendáriz urged for a focus on rehabilitation over incarceration, emphasizing that the current system sets many children up for a life of re-entering the criminal justice system. In March 2023, an EdSource article highlighted the success of a pilot program in Santa Clara County that focused on providing girls and young women in youth jails with community-based alternatives, reducing detention numbers by 58% within the first two years.
Supervisor Otto Lee acknowledged the need for significant reform within the Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall, suggesting that alternative rehabilitation spaces, such as the William F. James Ranch with its open spaces, classrooms, and recreational facilities, would be a better environment for reducing recidivism rates among youth, according to San José Spotlight. Meanwhile, as another San José Spotlight article mentioned, former Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Katherine Lucero has been working towards an overhaul of the state’s juvenile justice system since joining the new state agency overseeing it.
Activists push for more inclusivity in the county's juvenile justice subcommittee, hoping to engage formerly incarcerated individuals to provide insights into better supporting vulnerable youth populations. Goins emphasized the importance of rehabilitative services, particularly those that address trauma, in order to prevent incarcerated youth from re-entering the system later in life, the San José Spotlight reported.
It's worth noting that in September 2021, an incident had occurred in the Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall resulting in one of the staff counselors, Robert Medellin, being charged with assaulting a teen in the facility, according to an NBC Bay Area report. As advocates continue to criticize the current system, incidents like this add further support for their calls to end youth incarceration and explore alternative solutions.
Ending youth incarceration in Santa Clara County has the potential to follow a similar path as San Francisco's efforts, which plan to close their juvenile halls by the end of the year. Nationwide trends indicate a decline in the detention rate for juveniles, providing an opportunity for a shift towards community-based alternatives and an emphasis on rehabilitation over detention, as seen in Santa Clara County's pilot program and in other states like Hawaii, which has developed community-based solutions for their juvenile systems. As activists continue to rally for change, the conversation surrounding juvenile justice and rehabilitation in Santa Clara County serves as a potential blueprint for other counties looking to reimagine their approach to youth incarceration.
