Log Cabin Ranch Moving Towards Positive Horizons Civil Grand Jury City and County of San Francisco

Additional Recommendations 2

These recommendations are not explicitly linked to specific findings.

• R11
  The Juvenile Probation Department should immediately seek either City or grant funding to expand the Juvenile Collaborative Reentry Team program to include youth reentering society from the Log Cabin Ranch. Response required: Juvenile Probation department
• R17
  Response Matrix LOG CABIN RANCH: MOVING TOWARDS POSITIVE HORIZONS Log Cabin Ranch circa 1947 “ . . . Well, first of all, this is not a prison, this is not a jail, this is six hundred acres that can be developed into an incredible healing recovery center. There are no bars, there are no locks, it’s healthy, there’s fresh air. There’s this beautiful garden … getting away from the inner‐city, coming out here in this beautiful country area gives them new energy to live life, new spiritual awakenings just like they are somebody and that they have a culture, they have a story of their own and they have a future that’s real.”1 Jack Jacqua, 2003 Co‐founder Omega Boys Club INTRODUCTION California Penal Code Sections 919 (a) and 919 (b) authorize and mandate that the Civil Grand Jury inquire into the jails and public prisons within the county. Every year, in every county in California, one of the primary tasks of the local Civil Grand Jury is to tour and inspect the jails and detention facilities in its county. In September 2010 the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury toured the adult jail facilities located in San Bruno and the Hall of Justice building in San Francisco. The Jury also toured the mental health unit for prisoners located at the San Francisco General Hospital. All of these adult detention facilities are operated under the auspices of the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department. The Jury also toured all of the juvenile detention facilities directed by the Juvenile Probation Department. These facilities include the detention facility located at 375 Woodside Avenue as well as the subject of this report, the Log Cabin Ranch, located in La Honda. The report issued by the 2004‐2005 Civil Grand Jury painted a very negative picture of the Log Cabin Ranch. The 2010‐2011 Civil Grand Jury observed a completely different place. There are clear signs of change and improvement. There is a new operating model in place that focuses on a smaller and more therapeutic approach to dealing with the juveniles. The facilities had undergone a refurbishment and appeared both welcoming and comfortable. The contrast was so striking that the current Jury felt that an updated report was warranted to commend and congratulate the Juvenile Probation Department on the dramatic improvement since the 2005 report. This prompted us to conduct a broader inquiry. Our investigation confirmed these remarkable improvements. However, we also discovered that the opinions and decisions of some stakeholders continue to be influenced by the negative perception of the previously mismanaged Log Cabin Ranch. The Civil Grand Jury hopes that this report will help to change those perceptions, allowing the Log Cabin Ranch to achieve its full potential as an extraordinary place for the rehabilitation of San Francisco’s most at‐risk juvenile offenders. SUMMARY For more than a century, the predominant model for the treatment, punishment and rehabilitation of serious juvenile offenders has been confinement in a large congregate‐care correctional facility. In most states this type of institution still houses most incarcerated youth and still consumes the majority of taxpayer spending on juvenile justice. The success record of these correctional facilities is dismal. Though many youth confined to these institutions are not serious or chronic offenders, the recidivism rates are extremely high. Violence and abuse are commonplace. Long‐term studies indicate that many youth housed in such facilities develop lifelong negative behaviors. A leading juvenile justice scholar at the University of Minnesota reported: “Evaluation research indicates that incarcerating young offenders in large congregate‐care juvenile institutions does not effectively rehabilitate and may actually harm them.”2 A new style of reform is gaining momentum. This is powered by a growing recognition that the conventional practices are not getting the job done. Accumulating evidence shows that better results are possible through a fundamentally different approach. Our investigation shows that there are two fundamental approaches. One is to substantially reduce the population confined in juvenile correctional institutions by screening out youth who pose minimal danger to public safety—placing them instead into cost‐effective, community‐ based rehabilitation and youth development programs. The second approach, devised by the State of Missouri’s juvenile corrections agency, aims at the small minority of youth offenders requiring out‐of‐home placement to protect the public safety. Two out‐of‐home juvenile rehabilitation‐treatment facilities frequently used by the San Francisco Juvenile Court for assignment are Glen Mills in Philadelphia and George Junior Republic (a mental health facility) in Pittsburgh. Both facilities are highly regarded by some members of the juvenile justice system. Numerous San Francisco teen‐offenders have been sent to these East Coast facilities for care and rehabilitation. The questions that beg to be answered are: Why send San Francisco juveniles 3,000 miles from home? Why not place these individuals at Log Cabin Ranch, just 45 miles south of the city?” Unfortunately, through years of neglect and improper management Log Cabin Ranch acquired an unfavorable reputation within the juvenile justice system. Juvenile court judges lost confidence in the effectiveness of the Ranch, became reticent to send offenders there, and began sentencing youth to these well regarded out‐of‐state programs. It is important to note that the Grand Jury received conflicting information regarding the success and the recidivism rates of one of these programs ‐ Glen Mills in Philadelphia. By comparison there is only anecdotal information about the recent success of the Log Cabin program. The good news for San Francisco is that in 2006 Log Cabin Ranch embarked on a transformation. This transformation began with the hiring of a new Chief Juvenile Probation Officer with a clear vision and the implementation of the “Missouri Model” (Appendix A) as a foundational element for change. The new Chief also brought in a strong administrative team, making Log Cabin Ranch a place of respectability once again. Log Cabin Ranch, circa 1950’s WHAT IS THE LOG CABIN RANCH? “We locked up. I mean, we ain’t really locked up but we not home. It’s out in the boonies, in the cuts. Big yard across the way, birds and deers. It’s kind of trippy, like, I ain’t never saw that where I’m from. Deers and stuff just walking heck close by you. I think it’s a good program because they give you a lot of time to think and they, they get you think about what you doing out there. Like this is your last step. The next step is like YA (Youth Authority) or something. So, it’s like a time out. It’s like a big time out for you to just think about what you doing and what you do that affects not only you, but like your peers, your family, you know, your community.”3 Log Cabin Ranch Resident The Log Cabin Ranch is not a youth prison. It is not a typical jail and was never intended for that purpose. It is a ranch camp‐school which provides services to troubled youth ages 14 to 18 years old. The fundamental emphasis is on rehabilitation and self‐empowerment through an academic and therapeutic process. Instead of standard correctional supervision, Log Cabin Ranch offers a structured multi‐layered treatment designed to challenge troubled juvenile males, to help them make lasting behavioral changes, and to prepare for a successful re‐entry to the community. The Ranch is conducive to developing vocational interests and activities sufficient to allow each boy the opportunity to demonstrate his adaptability toward rehabilitation. Located on more than 600 acres in and above the La Honda timberline the remarkable environment surrounding the Log Cabin Ranch is an important characteristic influencing rehabilitation. The juvenile offender who is rehabilitated today through the Log Cabin Ranch program is less likely to reoffend. However, the Grand Jury observed that the current educational program does not take advantage of this extraordinary natural environment for learning opportunities. Log Cabin Ranch is a story of troubled youth with choices to make, almost insurmountable odds, and an opportunity to discover positive alternatives. Steering just one high‐risk teen away from a life of crime saves society $3 million to $6 million in reduced victim costs and criminal justice expenses, plus increased wages and tax payments over the young person’s lifetime. LOG CABIN RANCH HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT Log Cabin Ranch has been in existence for over 70 years. It was approved as a juvenile detention center by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. (