California’s ‘Pathways’ From Juvenile Incarceration to College Campuses

California’s push for “decarceration” has led to chaos in cities throughout the state. “Decarceration” on the surface sounds viable: “How formerly incarcerated people and former detention staff are coming together to build a future of work without youth incarceration,” one decarceration group says.

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t want to see California’s incarcerated youth thrive and become productive, contributing members of society. There are those who sincerely want to get kids and teens back into their communities and not committing more crimes. But there are too many in the state with other agendas.

A program was created by the California Legislature in 2020 to send teens who are convicted juvenile criminals and served time in a juvenile prison facility, to California’s state colleges and universities under the guise of “re-entry into communities.” Will their criminal history and status be withheld from public university dorm mates, roommates and teachers?

Just imagine a gang member incarcerated for murder is placed in a CSU or UC campus dorm by a county probation officer… What about the kids who worked hard in high school, stayed out of trouble, and didn’t get into that college? And what about the kid who did make it into that college who has no idea that his roommate served time for a gang murder?

Decarceration is a failure

We’ve already witnessed and lived with an attempt at decarceration with 2011’s Assembly Bill 109, former Gov. Jerry Brown’s “prison realignment” which “realigned” California’s overcrowded prison system, shifting responsibility of repeat, newly classified “nonviolent” offenders from state prisons to county jails. Those released were assigned county probation officers rather than state parole officers. Many of those newly “non-violent” criminals let out of county jails due to overcrowding are living on California streets, on parkways, rivers, and canals, and using the streets as their toilets.

Or 2014’s Proposition 47. Voters were promised magical transformation of California’s neighborhoods and schools if they passed Prop. 47.

Proposition 47, which was passed by tragically misinformed voters in 2014, and flagrantly titled “The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act” by then Attorney General Kamala Harris, reduced a host of serious felonies to misdemeanors, including drug crimes, date rape, and all thefts under $950, even for repeat offenders who steal every day. And it decriminalized drug possession from a felony to a misdemeanor, removed law enforcement’s ability to make an arrest in most circumstances, as well as removing judges’ ability to order drug rehabilitation programs rather than incarceration.

So much for Safe Neighborhoods and Schools.

Behind the scenes, California lawmakers and appointed bureaucrats have taken the decarceration movement and run with it. Democrat lawmakers and governors have whittled away California’s very successful Three Strikes law bringing back habitual criminals with no consequences.

The OCYR ignores this stark admission, and moves on to “oh well, let’s do it anyway.”

Despite this, the peer-reviewed research literature does present a wealth of practice-based recommendations, predominantly focusing on issues related to high school reentry for these youth.

For youth who are reentering and attending postsecondary institutions, several additional supports have been suggested that include:
• Mentoring support, and, where possible, connection with a “credible mentor” or ambassador who can help the youth successfully navigate the educational transition.

There are several programs addressing the education formerly incarcerated youth:

Rising Scholars
The Rising Scholars Network comprises several participating California Community Colleges and is devoted to aiding incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students. They provide degree- and certificate-granting programs within correctional facilities as well as on-campus
support for students involved in the criminal legal system.

Project Rebound
Project Rebound is a program designed to support the higher education and successful reintegration of formerly incarcerated individuals into the California State University system.

Underground Scholars
Underground Scholars was founded in spring 2013 by formerly incarcerated and justice system-impacted students at UC Berkeley. As members graduated and moved to different campuses within the UC system for their graduate studies, they initiated chapters at these locations. Currently, the organization has established or is in the process of developing chapters at nine UC schools.

Prison Education Project
The Prison Education Project (PEP) offers educational opportunities to incarcerated individuals in 47 correctional facilities throughout California. PEP runs a Reintegration Academy, a 10-week program that invites 20-30 parolees onto a college campus. Participants are screened by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s Southern Region.

Project Change
Project Change is the first community college supported program in California to provide wrap-around student support services, direct access to postsecondary education for incarcerated youth, and in-person college instruction inside juvenile youth facilities. The program links students to various resources and programs at the College of San Mateo.

This is how formerly incarcerated juveniles are living in dorms and taking classes at CSU Sacramento, UC Berkeley, and Community Colleges.

The Globe has submitted California Public Records Act Requests to the University of California, California State University and California Community Colleges systems, requesting the numbers of formerly incarcerated juvenile criminals now attending California’s public universities and colleges.

The California Globe has submitted California Public Records Act requests to each branch of the state’s higher education system for records of formerly incarcerated students in these programs, as well as how many live in college dormitories.