The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) recently released a report
to the Legislature regarding the Governor’s proposal to move the
Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) from the California Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation to the Health and Human
Services Agency.
The LAO opines that there is a lack of detail on how exactly the
Governor envisions this proposal, so the report recommends that
the Legislature consider the trade-offs of making this change,
and presents a series of questions. These questions include:
Does DJJ Need to Be Reorganized to Improve Rehabilitation?
What Are Potential Benefits of the Proposed Reorganization?
What Are Potential Consequences of the Proposed
Reorganization?
Are There Alternative Organizational Options Available?
Should the Reorganization of DJJ Be Done Through Budget
Trailer Legislation?
When elaborating on the alternative organizational options, the
LAO explains the possible creation of an independent department,
maintaining the existing structure with certain changes, or
realigning DJJ responsibilities to Counties. And to that last
point, the LAO provides that if the Legislature was to realign
remaining DJJ responsibilities to the counties, the Legislature
would want to consider a funding structure, a transition plan, a
process for state oversight and technical assistance, and
necessary policy changes that would prevent youth from simply
being shifted to the adult system.
