The county will spend nearly $5 million to renovate the William
F. James Boys’ Ranch in northeast Morgan Hill, but will not fund a
bigger expansion that would have increased the juvenile detention
and rehabilitation center’s capacity from 84 beds to 108.
The county will spend nearly $5 million to renovate the William F. James Boys’ Ranch in northeast Morgan Hill, but will not fund a bigger expansion that would have increased the juvenile detention and rehabilitation center’s capacity from 84 beds to 108.
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 Tuesday to pursue about $13 million in state grant funds to renovate the 50-year old facility on Malaguerra Avenue. If the county wins the grant, it will provide $4,935,200 in matching funds.
In a previous motion the board considered a costlier option that would have added 24 beds to the ranch that provides mandatory in-house rehabilitation for teenagers who are guilty of mostly non-violent offenses. But that option was rejected in a 2-2 vote, with Supervisors Blanca Alvarado and Ken Yeager opposed.
The two different votes highlight a strict difference in philosophies on how to deal with young criminals who comprise a growing waiting list to be transferred from juvenile hall to the ranch.
The expansion’s opponents argued that many juvenile offenders are best reformed through placement in social service programs that provide treatment and counseling but are less restrictive and less costly. Supporters of the ranch expansion, which was proposed by Probation Chief Sheila Mitchell, say that the rate of “more serious” youthful offenders who are a bigger threat to society is growing, and placing such people in the community would be unsafe.
Supervisor Don Gage, who represents South County, voted in favor of both motions, but preferred the first, which would have cost the county about $6.3 million. He said the cost is a worthy one despite a $220 million budget deficit looming next year.
Gage explained that the waiting list of offenders to be placed at the James Ranch would be shortened with an expansion. That would save money in the long run because the ranch is effective in reducing the number of repeat offenders.
“There’s no rehabilitation at juvenile hall – just incarceration,” said Gage. “The ranch has programs (the offenders) have to complete while they’re at the ranch. After they complete the programs, the recidivism rate is very low. If they don’t complete these programs, then they’re back in the cycle.”
In 2005, the Probation Department overhauled the ranch program to provide the education, counseling and one-on-one therapy that community-based organizations offer, while keeping the offender locked up for six to eight months. This adjustment, which included beefing up security and staff, was made in response to flurry of escapes in 2005. During the first six months of the year, close to 20 inmates fled the facility, prompting residents of the high-priced neighborhood nearby to make repeated requests for tightened security. Gage made these improvements his personal concern, and in May 2005 the board voted to install a security fence around the ranch’s perimeter.
In mid-2008, the department was authorized to begin an expansion of the ranch from 60 beds to its current size of 84 beds. Deputy chief probation officer Karen Fletcher said that expansion is underway with the addition of temporary modular units to accommodate the additional capacity. The expansion is scheduled to be complete by April 2009, but the extensive renovation approved Tuesday will consolidate all living quarters as well as classrooms and counseling rooms at the ranch into one building. The project will allow the facility to be run with fewer staff, saving money in operations.
Community-based organizations claim they can provide the same programs offered at the ranch at less cost to the county, which is important in the current economic climate, according to Tom Kinoshita, a consultant for the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits.
“We think institutional care is a higher cost,” said Kinoshita. “There is a need for juvenile hall, because there are bad kids out there. But we believe there are some good kids (who have committed minor offenses) that can be good out in the community, as less restricted as possible.”
He said the additional operating costs of $1.6 million for an expansion would be prohibitive for the county.
Probation officials agree that treatment in the community is effective for some kids, and they often recommend such a sentence for those who are guilty of less serious offenses.
But commitment to the James Ranch is typically reserved for mid-level offenders, who are a flight risk for community based programs, but are not dangerous enough for juvenile hall. One problem with treating young offenders in the community is they sometimes run away without completing their court-mandated treatment and counseling, then commit more crimes. Fletcher said these “runners” belong in the James Ranch.
She added the population of these young mid-level offenders is on the rise.
“The level of sophistication we’re seeing warrants commitment to the ranch,” she said. “We’ve identified some community based organizations that can serve (some offenders), and we consider those pre-ranch alternatives. And we’re ensuring those kids have had the opportunity to go to community-based services.”
