Published by San Francisco Chronicle
Three San Francisco supervisors have vowed to shut down juvenile hall, an extraordinary move — prompted by a Chronicle investigation — that would end the jailing of youths in the city.
Hillary Ronen, Shamann Walton and Matt Haney are drafting legislation that would close the facility, which has 150 beds but typically has fewer than 50 youths held inside, by the end of 2021.
The supervisors’ action follows an investigation published online by The Chronicle Thursday that documented a dramatic drop in serious youth crime that has left the state’s juvenile halls nearly empty. The report also shows that spending on juvenile halls and camps remains astonishingly high.