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In the News

California Looks to Santa Clara County Model to Stop Incarceration of Girls

Posted by: YWFC
January 27, 2023

Published by The Mercury News

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA – After spending her teenage years in and out of juvenile detention, Arabella Guevara was used to crowded conditions such as mattresses on the floor and girls triple-bunked in cells meant for two.

But nothing prepared Guevara for her final stint at the 96-bed William F. James Ranch in Morgan Hill. As other young women finished their terms and headed home, no one arrived to replace them. By June 2020, Guevara, who had been arrested on car theft and burglary charges, found herself alone with a handful of probation staff.

“It was depressing,” said Guevara, 19, of San Jose. “You’re already away from your family and friends. And now you’re just by yourself.”

What Guevara didn’t know was that the quiet around her reflected a flurry of activity on the outside involving the local courts, probation department, prosecutors, mental health providers and community groups. Santa Clara County’s Juvenile Justice Gender Responsive Task Force had been meeting regularly in service of an ambitious goal: ending the incarceration of girls.

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Read More from In the News

CBS News Bay Area: YWFC Oakland

Tae Thomas, a youth fellow at YWFC Oakland, was interviewed by CBS New Bay Area on the impact of the Center’s work and why the city should invest more in community-based programs for youth.

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YWFC September 18, 2023

San Francisco Voted to Close Its Juvenile Hall Four Years Ago. Why is the City Still ‘Jailing Kids’?

San Francisco’s elected officials voted overwhelmingly four years ago to shutter the county’s expensive jail-like juvenile hall, basking in the national accolades that came with their pledge to stop locking young people in cells by the end of 2021. 

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YWFC September 15, 2023

Leading Racial, Social Justice Foundation Tabs Youth Justice Strategist as Senior Program Officer

A leading racial and social justice grantmaking foundation organization in the Bay Area and nationally Tuesday has named a youth justice strategist as its senior program officer.

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YWFC July 19, 2023
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YWFC in the News

CBS News Bay Area: YWFC Oakland

YWFC September 18, 2023

San Francisco Voted to Close Its Juvenile Hall Four Years Ago. Why is the City Still ‘Jailing Kids’?

YWFC September 15, 2023

Leading Racial, Social Justice Foundation Tabs Youth Justice Strategist as Senior Program Officer

YWFC July 19, 2023

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