SAN MATEO COUNTY (KRON) — In June, San Francisco supervisors voted to shutdown juvenile hall.
Now San Mateo County’s juvenile hall could be the next on the chopping block.
The county’s Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention Commission sent a letter to the board of supervisors asking them to form a task force to look at alternatives.
“How do we create spaces for them to stumble and learn as opposed to stumble and be locked up?” said Sonoo Thadaney Israni, juvenile justice and delinquency prevention commissioner. “And locking them up isn’t the right answer. It becomes a revolving door and shuts down options for them and it impacts others in their family as well.”
It may also no longer be cost effective to keep the doors open because the population for the 178 bed facility often sits at 50 or 60.
“Average cost for a juvenile is $320,000 a year, that’s the county cost,” said San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa.
That’s money that commissioners say can be better spent.
Official formation of the task force will likely happen in the fall.
It’s unclear if a final decision will take weeks, months or years.