Putting Delinquents in Their Place : If the state fails to find funding for juvenile probation camps, society will pay the price

A political squabble that has nothing to do with law and order threatens to close California’s juvenile probation camps-- and put thousands of gangbangers and other young criminals back on the streets. Sacramento must find $33 million to keep the camps open.

Because county-run probation camps work, they have won the support of Gov. Pete Wilson, Republicans and Democrats. The recidivism rate is a respectably low 25%, an indication of success with this tough crowd.

The camps are also considered a law enforcement bargain because they cost less to operate than the more secure, state-run California Youth Authority facilities, which are usually reserved for young criminals with long or violent records. The average stay at a youth camp is six months and costs $12,000, while the average CYA stay is 18 months and costs $53,000.

Despite the bipartisan support for the camps, which operate in 23 of the state’s 58 counties, the Legislature recessed in September without approving the state’s share of the funding. Unfortunately, the money has been linked to a proposed cut in general relief, the welfare program for poor adults. Forcing this trade-off seems a bit cynical. These unrelated measures should be uncoupled when the Legislature reconvenes in January, and each matter should be judged on its own merit.

Some harm has already been done. Because funding stands to run out soon, probation officers and prosecutors can no longer refer kids to youth camps. So where are these youngsters being sent? Back home, for the most part, because many judges are reluctant to send first-time offenders or nonviolent youngsters to the much harsher California Youth Authority. Back home on informal probation is not where these youngsters belong. They need help to learn discipline and weigh the consequences of their behavior. They need rehabilitation, and many get just that and more in the locked facilities of the youth camps.

More than 4,500 teenagers, both boys and girls, spend time at the camps in Los Angeles County in a typical year. A majority of the Board of Supervisors has voted to close the county’s 18 camps in February because the state has not allocated the $17 million needed to run them.

The camps provide education, tough discipline, drug treatment, job training and a chance for youngsters to go straight before it is too late. Surely Wilson and the Legislature can find a way to save a system that is so crucial to society’s well-being.