What is this bill about?
SB 1009 updates the Welfare and Institutions Code to reflect well-established principles that youth should remain in their communities whenever possible and that detention should be a last resort. By establishing clearer legal standards for judges when making detention and custodial placement decisions, SB 1009 reduces unnecessary incarceration and promotes more consistent, accountable court decisions.
How does it align with yli’s values?
Decades of research confirm that placing youth in custodial facilities, referred to as “detention,” can inflict significant harm on youth and worsen public safety outcomes. Detention in juvenile hall can disrupt education, exacerbate trauma and mental health needs, and increase the likelihood of deeper system involvement, even when detention is brief.
S.B. 1009 will bring clarity, coherence, and consistency to the statutory framework that governs when and how youth may be detained in or committed to a juvenile hall and harmonizes existing law with longstanding principles that advance youth development, public safety, and rehabilitation. In doing so, it ensures that confinement remains “the exception, not the rule.”
yli partners with thousands of youth across the state, the majority of whom are low-income youth of color. We witness first hand the impacts of our state’s harmful “justice” system on their lives, and are staunch advocates of measures that will reduce the criminalization and incarceration of our youth, and ensure they have the best chances at rehabilitation and reentry.
This policy aligns with our Racial Justice Platform, which addresses the impacts of the carceral system on communities of color.
What is yli doing about it?
We have just submitted a letter endorsing this bill, and we are showing our support on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Who supports this bill?
- California Youth Defender Center, CYDC (Sponsor)
- Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, CURYJ (Sponsor)
- Fresh Lifelines for Youth, FLY (Sponsor)