Los Prietos Boys Camp Effective, but Underutilized

Conclusions 5

• CL1
  No similar camp program for female juveniles exists in Santa Barbara County.
• CL2
  The Los Prietos Boys Camp at its current staffing level can care for up to 50 youth yet the number of juveniles held is less than this number.
• CL3
  Freedom 4Youth offers a post incarceration mentorship program that is only available to youth who live in the South County.
• CL4
  No standard calculation methodology exists within Santa Barbara County for measuring juvenile recidivism.
• CL5
  31 Belfield & Levin, The Economic Losses from High School Dropouts in California, The California Dropout Research Project (August 2007), at p. 27 and Table 13. 32 Id. 2015-16 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury 17

Observations 1

• OB1
  Recidivism Rate Even though it is currently operating well below capacity, the LPBC has proven to be a good investment of taxpayer funds. The recidivism rate of the LPBC graduates is well below the state average. The Jury believes that the LPBC recidivism rate is also well below the rate of those youthful offenders processed through County juvenile hall. However, because of the complexity of the calculations, the Jury was unable to obtain quantitative evidence to support this belief. In order to compare rates for different facilities, identical calculation methodology is required. The Jury found that different methodologies exist at the State and Federal levels and even between facilities within the county. The County Probation Department is aware of this shortcoming and is working actively to implement a uniform recidivism computation and reporting methodology. The following table shows the recidivism rate of LPBC graduates for calendar year 2014. The data is sorted by court location. The recidivism rate is calculated using any re-offenses (not including technical probation violations), during 2014 of graduates from the LPBC from 2012 through 2014. 2015-16 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury 2 __________LOS PRIETOS BOYS CAMP ____________ Table 1. Recidivism Rate by Court Location Santa Barbara Lompoc Santa Maria Total Total LPBC Graduates 108 60 104 272 Number of Graduates with No 76 44 74 194 Re-Offensesa Number of Recidivists (One or 32 16 30 78 More Re-Offenses) During 3 Year period Percent Recidivism 30% 27% 29% 29% a This includes 19 youth with a technical probation violation. As mentioned earlier, the recidivism rate for LPBC graduates is much lower than that of California as a whole. The three-year California juvenile recidivism rates for the six year period ending in 2007 are shown on Figure 11 . Although it has declined somewhat since 2007, the statewide rate as of 2008 exceeded 70%. The comparable figure for LPBC graduates in 2014 was 29%. Figure 1. Juvenile Recidivism Rates for California Preadmission Screening This low recidivism rate is partially due to the intensive screening process used to evaluate candidates before admission which includes a medical/physical examination. The most current LPBC Screening 12012 Outcome Evaluation Report, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Office of Research, October 2012 2015-16 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury 3 __________LOS PRIETOS BOYS CAMP ____________ form is attached as Appendix A. In addition, the process includes psychological evaluations and mental health history to determine suitability. LPBC personnel also interview youth to determine their level of maturity and commitment to complete the program. In 2015, 121 youthful offenders were referred for admission suitability evaluation. Of these candidates, 11 (or 9%) were rejected. Rejections occurred either because of the type of offense (arsonists and sex offenders are not eligible), a physical problem, or because the sentence was too short for the program to be effective. Other Support Programs A major study of the effectiveness of various intervention and treatment programs was conducted by M. W. Lipsey, Director, Peabody Research Institute at Vanderbilt University in 20092. His conclusions are: “Counseling interventions had the largest positive effects on recidivism decreasing it by 13%, followed by Multiple coordinated services (12%), and Skill building programs (12%). The counseling interventions that were most effective were group-based, mentoring focused, and those that had mixed combinations of various types of counseling.” To their credit, LPBC staff have implemented a number of support programs designed to assist the youth in their care in recognizing how their behavior contributed to their incarceration, and, more importantly, how they can modify their behavior in the future. These programs include: individual and family counseling, Moral Reconation Therapy, three different substance abuse counseling programs, a weekly public speaking and leadership skills program, and the “Aftercare” program which helps youth transition back into the community. LPBC also provides some vocational training and a rigorous online education program (Los Robles High School) that operates 12 months of the year and is administered by the Santa Barbara County Education Office. Freedom 4Youth, a non-profit corporation, offers a post incarceration mentorship program that is only available to youth who live in South County. This or a similar mentorship program should be offered to North County youth, as well. These worthy programs are well documented elsewhere and will not be discussed further in this report. Economic Analysis The Jury believes that the Los Prietos Boy’s Camp is run effectively and efficiently and is a significant asset to the community. The LPBC operating cost is more than offset by savings to society resulting from the higher education level and lower recidivism rate of young men that have participated in the LPBC program. During 2015, an average of 37 young men were held in custody at LPBC at any given time. This utilization rate is about 70 percent of one dormitory’s possible holding capacity (without making capital expenditures). This equates to an approximate annual cost of $151,000 per occupant3 ($414/day). This is $32,000 less than the $183,000 ($501/day) per occupant to incarcerate a youth at Juvenile Hall. 2 Victims & Offenders, Volume 4, Issue 2, April 2009, pages 124-147, The Primary Factors That Characterized Effective Interventions With Juvenile Offenders: A Meta-Analytic Overview, Lipsey, M. W. 3 $5.6 M LPBC annual budget for an average of 37 incarcerated youth for 2015. 2015-16 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury 4 __________LOS PRIETOS BOYS CAMP ____________ The LPBC facility includes two dormitories. One dormitory, in use currently, is capable of housing 52 youth at a time. The second dormitory, currently not in use, could house an additional 44 youth, for a total of 96 youth if both facilities were placed in operation. The smaller, second dormitory, once known as the Boys Academy, was used to house the youngest offenders, keeping them separate from the older boys. It closed three years ago because of a decrease in the number of younger juvenile offenders. This dormitory could be used if the program were expanded to house females, keeping them separate from the boys. California State regulations regarding facility staffing levels also affect the LPBC housing capacity. Current staff is able to care for a maximum of 50 youth. Any youth population greater than 50 would require hiring additional staff. The LPBC annual operating costs, ($5.6 M for fiscal year 2015-16) can be divided into two categories: variable and fixed. The variable costs are proportional to the number of youth and include items such as food, medical care, uniforms, and transportation. The fixed costs are the cost of the physical plant, the beds, buildings, lockers, showers, etc. As discussed above, a sharp cost increase occurs at about 50 inmates, due to the requirement to open the second dormitory. Because of State regulations, cost of the staff is considered a fixed cost for the sake of this discussion, when 50 or fewer youth are housed. As an example, adding or subtracting one inmate would not affect the size of the staff. The cost/inmate, however (the total annual facility operating cost divided by the number of students) decreases as shown in Table 2 since the fixed expenses are amortized over a larger number of inmates. Table 2 LPBC Incarceration Cost vs. Number of Youth No. of 20 30 37 40 50 55 60 70 80 Youth Total Cost 5.08 5.30 5.60 5.66 5.88 10.00 a 10.20 a 10.40 a 10.60 a (Million $) Annual 254,000 176,667 151,351 141,500 117,600 181,818 170,000 148,571 132,500 Cost Per Inmate ($) a Estimated As mentioned earlier, average LPBC utilization in 2015 was 37 youth, as shown in Table 2 with cost/inmate of approximately $151,000. Total facility operating cost is approximately $5.6 million. Capacity exists at LPBC to increase utilization of the facility by 30% without increasing operating cost significantly. If the facility were operating near maximum capacity, housing 48 youth, the annual cost/inmate would decrease to about $120,000/year). Total operating cost would increase only 3% to $5.77 million/yr. As discussed in a previous section titled Preadmission Screening, the Jury learned that 9% of the 121 candidates for LPBC commitment were rejected for various reasons. We also learned that 90 boys, or 74%, were ordered to LPBC. The remaining 20 (16.5%) were screened and accepted but, for various reasons, were NOT ordered to the camp. It is this population that the Jury believes constitutes the candidate pool for increasing LPBC utilization. 2015-16 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury 5 __________LOS PRIETOS BOYS CAMP ____________ Additional Methods of Increasing Camp Utilization Another possible way to increase use of the existing facilities would be to accept females. Currently, some females are sent out of state to group homes using state and federal funds. A soon to be published UCSB report, entitled “Evaluation of Female Specific Services: Transforming the Juvenile Justice Approach to Girls, 2016” Executive Summary concludes “that a local option, where girls could receive intensive mental health treatment would be preferable to out-of-county group homes”4. The unused dormitory at LPBC would require almost no modification to accommodate females. Accepting females would give them access to the same intensive mental health services available to the boys. Therefore, the cost for female inmates would be similar to the cost for males. The need for a facility to house juvenile female inmates is worthy of further study. Although, over the last several years, the number of female offenders has decreased steadily, this year, the number has increased sharply. Even so, the number of female offenders in Santa Barbara County is not presently sufficent to warrant establishing a separate program for them. The minimum number of female youth for a cost-effective program is approximately 20. It is possible, however, that an arrangement could be reached with the probation departments of Ventura and San Luis Obispo Counties to house and rehabilitate qualifying females from their jurisdictions. The Jury recommends that this possibility be explored. The Jury’s preliminary study indicates that a joint program would benefit all participants. Another possible way to increase use of the existing facilities would be to offer programs of shorter duration. Existing programs of 120 and 180 days could complemented be with 60 and/or 90 day programs. The Jury recommends that this possibility be explored as well. Benefits to Society When youth graduate from Los Prietos Boys Camp, (and, in many cases, subsequently from high school) the positive effects are not only felt by the juvenile but also his family. These benefits cannot always be quantified as they may involve improved self-esteem, self-discipline, a resolve to move on to college or a job, and/or to contribute to his family. One youth, when asked what he would do differently when he got out of Camp said he wanted his behavior not "to make my mom cry again." See Appendix B for similar comments from other youth incarcerated at LPBC. However, numerous papers and studies show that society as a whole clearly benefits in a multitude of financial ways. Before they were incarcerated at LPBC, the majority of the youth were substance abusers, were truant (some for as long as a year), and were found guilty of various violations of the law. This report does not attempt to analyze every detail of the individuals placed at the Camp. However, it is accurate to state that they were all in danger of ending up as statistics, whether it be as high school dropouts, perpetrators of further crimes, victims of crimes, and/or as inmates of local, state, or federal prisons.5 Beyond that, the youth could become a financial drain on various levels of government and its taxpayers in numerous ways, whether as inmates of jails and prisons, welfare or food stamp recipients, 4 Year 2: Systemic Probation Analysis & Girls Group Evaluation, Evaluation of Female Specific Services, Transforming the Juvenile Justice Approach to Girls, 2016 Executive Summary, UCSB and Santa Barbara County Department of Behavioral Wellness, Draft 5 See Appendix C, “Memo to Santa Barbara County Grand Jury from District Attorney Joyce E. Dudley, March 30, 2016” 2015-16 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury 6 __________LOS PRIETOS BOYS CAMP ____________ and/or as low wage earners. “The typical career criminal causes $1.3–$1.5 million in external costs; a heavy drug user causes $370,000 to $970,000. Eliminating duplication between crimes committed by individuals who are both heavy drug users and career criminals results in an overall estimate of the “monetary value of saving a high-risk youth” of $1.7 to $2.3 million.”6 These and more data may be found in Appendix C, "Memo from Joyce E. Dudley, District Attorney, County of Santa Barbara, March 30, 2016". Based on its investigation, the Jury strongly believes that the Los Prietos Boys Camp is a valuable asset that not only changes the lives of the youth it incarcerates, it also contributes to saving an appreciable amount of money for taxpayers and all levels of government.

Agency Responses 1

Government agencies' official responses to this report's findings and recommendations. Click on a response to see the structured breakdown.