A Message from Chamber President Charlynn Harless:

Youth Facility Would be Better Option for Women's Facility

MAY 2007 -- The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation continues to consider the Northern California Women’s Facility as a resource for responding to the severe overcrowding of our prison system. In response to our community’s strong, united opposition to converting this facility into a men’s prison, consideration is being given to a proposed compromise ~ a men’s transition or re-entry facility. This compromise proposal is not acceptable to the Chamber of Commerce.

The state of California guaranteed our community, by the passage of legislation, that the Northern California Women’s Facility would never be used for male prisoners. Now, the state is attempting to waiver on that commitment. The Chamber believes that once converted into a men’s transition or re-entry facility and guard towers are added, further conversion into a men’s prison would be very easy.

The Government Relations Council and representatives from Assembly members Cathleen Galgiani and Greg Aghazarian recently met with Deputy Superintendent of Schools, Mick Founts regarding a proposal to utilize the Northern California Women’s Facility as a non-secure residential career and technical high school for adjudicated adolescent youth. This proposed program just makes good common sense and consequently received unanimous support!

Recognizing the need for educational, social and emotional interventions for the most at-risk youth population in California, the Chamber believes that the San Joaquin County Office of Education in partnership with the San Joaquin Probation Department, San Joaquin County Superior Court Judges, San Joaquin County Mental Health and other support agencies should enter into an agreement with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to operate a non-secure residential career and technical high school for adjudicated adolescent youth housed at the Northern California Women’s Facility.

The programs housed at this facility would include a general treatment program and a residential substance abuse program for California’s adjudicated youth. The County Office of Education would augment core education with career and technical education providing skills needed to successfully enter the job market and would partner with Juvenile Probation and the Courts for pre and post placement programs and on-going education programs.

The residential California Conservation Corp, which could serve as a transition program for youth who are 18 years of age could operate concurrently at the facility with the Correctional Officers Training Program, which would enable Correctional Officer trainees to develop a greater understanding of the issues of teen offenders.

The Government Relations Council and Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani are very impressed with the effort and ingenuity demonstrated by the San Joaquin County Office of Education in the development of this proposed program. As a result, Assemblywoman Galgiani submitted this proposed program directly to Secretary James Tilton of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and she continues to lobby for its consideration. She needs our support!

Please take a moment and email your strong support for this program to Assemblywoman Galgiani Assemblymember.Galgiani@assembly.ca.gov; Assemblyman Greg Aghazarian,  Assemblymember.Aghazarian@assembly.ca.gov; Senator Mike Machado  Senator.Machado@senate.ca.gov; and governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, governor@governor.ca.gov.

For many years we have all heard over and over again that it is more cost effective to educate and rehabilitate than it is to incarcerate! Finally, a program has been developed that focuses on education and rehabilitation for our at-risk youth, and the citizens of our community need to get behind this proposal and demand that it be implemented!