we started to compile the uniform crime reports in the 1930's. that is our main source of information about youth crime. a collection of arrest statistics and reported crimes and clearances from police departments. in 1952, they collected information specific to juvenile. it is our main source of information. since we have been gathering information, at least that is relatively accurate, use kraemer is at its lowest point ever reported. whatever has happened and no one has a complete explanation as to why that has occurred. it has occurred nationally and in san francisco. however, in saying that, i also may want to address some things

that may be related and may not be related to why that crime wenrate went down. much of our public policy has been based on the idea that if you pass harsher laws, incarcerate more people, that will drive down the crime rate. i can tell you unequivocally, there is no research that supports that and not in the area of juvenile justice. my agency has been tracking this for 15 years. as the state of california has been essentially eliminating its youth correctional system, what we used to call the california youth authority, we call the division of juvenile justice in our system -- our system of 11 institutions, there are three. we have gone from 10,000 kids in cursor did to 1000 today. it is continuing to drop and the governor is pushing for the

proposal to close it completely. take as from a 19th century system hopefully into a 21st century system. specific to hear, san francisco is leading that trend. roughly in the 1990's, the san francisco juvenile justice system was the subject of harsh criticism. it was two decades of harsh criticism for its monolithic practice that week -- kids would get arrested, police officers would take them into the youth guidance center and take them to the youth guidance center. they would be detained for some time and were released onto the street with you services and little follow-up. in the mid-1990s, it was decided that was not such a good approach. we needed to diversify our juvenile justice services and that came on the heels of a

number of reports, a number of actions by the board of supervisors and various commissions. with the passage of children's fund in 1992, a new pot of money was created for the establishment of innovative services. services that up to that point did not exist. it is the department of children and youth, and families. when that department was launched, what we saw is an unprecedented level of innovation and creativity. into not just the juvenile justice system but the entire youth service center. specific on the issue of -- in relation to serving youth who get in trouble, some of the most noted model programs were created as a result. this is coinciding at the time

when san francisco stopped sending kids to the state youth correction facilities and started keeping them here. you will hear from one of those programs, huckleberry house. we have the detention diversion advocacy program. the use the justice organization. there are so many, a lot of good programs. " we did is we created this diversified -- what we did is we created this diversified range of service options that had never existed before. instead of relying on institutionalization, and incarceration, we started to rely on community-based interventions. and culturally specific interventions because we have a diverse population. we expanded our community based

organizations and those organizations when their work was recognized became recognized for their achievements by many of the city departments. in 2005. bill embraced many of the things that were happening and expanded athe time, we were almost operating two parallel systems. what had happened is we took a juvenile probation system that for many years have been criticized for being isolated. now embraced the is community- based approaches and created what is close to a national model. it is not widely known right now. i think it has been one of san francisco's well-kept secrets. i think we have something to talk about here. one of the things we have learned from these experiences here in san francisco echo what has happened around the country. a lot of research has been done

over the last 15 to 20 years about what works. what works in changing -- taking a child who is heading down the wrong path and putting them on the right path. some of the things we know do not work for what were popular, things like scared straight, that quick fixes. quick fixes do not work. criminal-justice system and troubles in balance. we go from boot camps and scared straight program spread what does work? , prince of interventions that address the specific needs of kids who come into the juvenile justice system. the kids to have what we call risk factors and i do not like to use those terms. the kids who have come from troubled homes or neighborhoods. come from poverty.

and exhibit the symptoms that are attributed to that or failing in school. our -- they are experiencing violence, they have been traumatized, they have been the victims of abuse or witnessed violence over and over. programs that address those specific circumstances in a kid's life are what makes the results and the research is there to show it. and we know what reduces recidivism rates are those programs that address this specific conditions. we know from this research that good programs, comprehensive programs to reduce recidivism by 20% to 40%. we know the conventional approaches of short-term incorporation -- incarceration or doing something -- doing nothing no. -- are doing nothing at all. san francisco has established itself as a model.

in many ways, we have led the nation in establishing what those models are and as we move forward from here, i think that one of the areas that we need to look at it is reducing some of the fragmentation that sometimes happens between public agencies, some of the youth serving agencies that are represented here. how do you bring all those together? a lot of times, different agencies, different entities have different agendas and different approaches and different velocities. sometimes philosophies and treatment approaches are outdated. one of the things i would suggest in terms of the police department and how -- i know there is innovative things happening in the police department. one of the things i always encourage, whether it is probation or cbo's, we need to get to a point where we are reducing the fragmentation of areas and develop some joint training approaches.

joint training approaches on information that tells us what those -- what effective interventions are. and some other things that we not -- we are not always aware of related to juvenile justice and adolescent behavior. one thing we do know is that kids are going through stages of cognitive development. we are growing. human beings go through i did a full -- identifiable stages of cognitive development. as our brains mature, our behavior changes. this goes along with the studies on youth crime. we note even kids who are heavily involved in juvenile crime at the age of 14, 15, 16, and 17, as they start to get older, suddenly, the behavior changes. they turn it around for whatever reason. part of it is what we call in

the criminal-justice field the maturation of fact. there will age out faster if -- they will eat out faster if we do not damage them. we can make things worse by over-intervening. learning about the stages of development in a child's life and also what interventions are most effective? when to intervene is crucial. we also know that sometimes intervening too soon or inappropriate intentions can cause as much damage -- can damage the kid and increase recidivism rates. there is a lot of research about what works, what are effective interventions, and we have more knowledge now than we ever had in the past. i hope that as we move forward,

that we develop a joint training sessions where we bring this information together and everybody comes together and works together. because the kids are showing up -- the youth crime rates are lower in -- the lowest in history. we have a lot of kids who have a lot of trouble that need our help. i will leave it at that. thank you. president mazzucco: thank you. our next speaker, denise coleman. >> sorry. it is right on the --

>> there is copies of this powerpoint right up front. >> good evening. [inaudible] thank you for inviting [inaudible] [inaudible] the youth commission felt it was important [inaudible] this body here, because people needed to need -- know more

[inaudible] with the young people when they come and and how are the intervention -- how the intervention -- [inaudible] a lot of people want to know what' carc is. and carc has been around for 14 years. it was started in 1998 when there was money from the board of corrections. mayor brown felt that money needed to go toward revamping the juvenile justice system in san francisco. carc is one of the programs that was created with that funding of money. the unique thing is we're at the very front end of the system. when young people get arrested,

they are arrested and brought to carc for a variety of not seriously violent crimes or crimes where the there are serious injury to the victims. here are some of the police officers that are in our facility during -- doing their day-to-day work. this is the muni task force. they have brought young people in for some graffiti on the muni. i am trying to go quickly. i want you to look at the fact that the carc gets young people

at the point of arrest is unique. commissioner chan: is like -- ca carc is like triage. at that point they can be advised by our probation officer who directs the officer whether or not to bring the young person to carc or take them to jjc. when a young person comes to us, there are a variety of things that happen. they come and talk to our on- site probation officer. they are dealt with with our case managers who do quite an extensive assessment of their needs, their strengths, their interests. we want to find out from these young people, what can we do to keep you from going further into the juvenile justice system and to keep you from going re- arrested again. what is happening in your life? what are the things you want to do that you have never done that

perhaps as case managers, we can get you that foot in the door and we can get you started. maybe you love animals. we can get you an internship at the shelter. you can learn at the animal shelter so you can learn all about animals. those are the kinds of things we have done. prairie issue for young people when they come into school, -- primary issue for people who come into school. their attendance or their grades. there is always some kind of issue. sometimes it is a safety issue. the case managers will deal with that. we have been very successful with helping our young people out with their educational outcomes. this gives you an idea of what we have helped -- the percentages to what we have helped young people do. we have had an 82% improvement in behavior is, a 65% improvement in their attendance,

and an 84% successful completion of all the young people coming into the program. again, the assessment peace is very unique. it is a holistic and a psychosocial kind of assessment. it gets into the meat of who these young people are. in addition, it allows the case managers to get an idea at 2 -- of what the eye -- to get an idea of what is going on at home. they are not in a bubble. there are affected by things happening at home and happening in their community. in addition, being able to talk to the young people. we talk to the parents as well. this is one of the client's our work that keyman -- came into carc. he had been arrested for graffiti and had been arrested more than once. and had come to carc more than

once. it was determined this young person really did not like destroying property. he really liked art. he wanted to do art. there was a fund or grant that was being distributed by youth funding youth ideas. we helped them do a proposal. there were able to get materials, canvas, the paint and ink they needed. they made this merrill as well as a mural at john bearden high school. -- this mural as well as a mural at john burton posco. there will work with an attorney to get a job so they can continue to beautify san francisco. you ask, more than youth -- who are the youth who come? the majority are kids of color

which is true for the criminal justice system, period. we have 34% african-american, 30% latino, 19% asian american, 10% multiracial. the kids' ages range from 11-13, 18%. 16-17, 40%. most of our kids are 14-15. we see 65% of the kids we see have misdemeanors. 35% have been charged with low- to mid-level felonies. the important thing about young people when they come is the majority of them have been

exposed to violence. violence is huge. that is part of the reason they have such an adversarial response to officers. police officers, when they see police officers, that is the first thing that comes to their mind. most of our young people have been exposed to violence. when you are exposed to violence, you have a tendency to kind of repeat the behavior that you have been exposed to. so research has shown -- young people that are exposed to violence are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol. suffer from depression, anxiety. posttraumatic disorders, fail or have difficulty in school. and become delinquent and engage in criminal behavior. that is very, very true and it is one of the reasons why we have hired a full-time therapist to help us remedy some of the situations and to try to prevent

our young people from continuing in this cycle of violence. we are very unique. we have the onside juvenile probation officer. there is a deputy sheriff that takes care of security. there are three community-based subcontractors that are with us. cyc, brothers against guns, and instituto familiar de la raza. the interesting thing about the dgo, it instructs the officers to bring juvenile and two -- not to -- to avoid is the proper language. avoid bringing juvenile into any police facility, including district stations, that contains all locked -- that contains a lot of four adults.

-- lock up for adults. the dgo goes on to explain that only after a member has made a reasonable efforts from the field or from the juvenile center facilities such as huckleberry house or jjc to -- may a member brink of a juvenile to a facility that -- bring a juvenile to a facility that includes a lot of four adults. there is room where officers can bring people to do their investigations. since the cannot bring them into the police station. we do not want them doing it on the street or in the back of a vehicle. there is an interview room that is located at carc and jjc for officers to conduct their

interviews. this room has been set up. it has a life scan and hoda machine, and has a secured and locked the door. behind there is all the equipment officers need to further their investigations. there is a system there and a tape recorder. a paper shredder. everything they need behind in this locked door. so, we think it is important for officers when they are in the field to be able to access not only this interview room but the interview room at jjc. officers are under a lot of constrained to get in, to do what they need to do and to get back out in the field. our responsibility is when they do bring a young people in to make sure that they are able to do their paperwork, they are able to do it sufficiently, completely, and thoroughly. we get them back out on the street and probably -- in

probably no more than 15 minutes, a lot of times less. it is important for the young people to know their rights. there is a know your rights brochure, language has been inserted from the dgo. that should be in every school, every youth center, every park and rec center so these people know how to respond to an officer when an officer approaches them. last but not least, this is the staff at carc. we really do appreciate the work that we do with sfpd. we work closely with most of the officers. chief sir is a huge supporter and fans. the officers that come down to us over the years, their perspective about what we do and

who we are is -- has changed because they understand the kids are not just coming in and we're not just releasing them. we're delving into their lives to hopefully make a difference, to prevent them from going deeper into the system and being read-arrested. our recent -- recidivism rate is 18%. 18% are not rearrested. a year to two years after they were brought there and their cases have been closed. thank you so much. president mazzucco: thank you so much. [applause] >> good evening. i am a san francisco native. i am a young adult advocate and member of the youth commission

youth justice committee. i am also of formerly incarcerated youths who has had her share fronts -- run-ins' with the police. i'm here to share my experience is interacting with police and why substandard youth training is critical to improve interactions. the year is 2001. it is saturday night and 30 p.m. and i am walking down mission street with a group of friends on our way home from a party. i am 15. two male cops stopped me and my friends and said we have been reported and i had fit the description. i am not really hearing him. in my mind, all i know is i have not done anything wrong. i am late getting home. if i missed the last bus, i am going to have to walk home. with that, i say to the officer, "i do not know what you are talking about. i have to get home." i walked away.

the officer grabbed me and slammed me to the ground and put handcuffs on me. i was wearing a shirt that had once leave and after the attack, i just had been exposed. i kept asking the officer if he could put my shirt but he refused. the next thing i know, my friends and i were hauled off in a police van and taken to a district station. i remember being released with a piece of paper saying i had not been detained and the officer wrote me off at home. i could not believe what had happened to me. i was shocked the police would treat a young girl the way they did. i was on probation at the time. what i told my probation officer what happened, they said there was nothing i could do about it because it occurred while i was out past curfew. unfortunately. i cannot believe it. looking back, i realized i should not have walked away when the officer was talking to me but also, the officer posing response highlights where training in how to better

communicate with youth is different how they would communicate with adults. also where the could have training on how to respond in a way that would have been more effective. i also now wonder if there was a report of a female flight, white female officers were not dispatched. -- a female fight, why female officers were not as fast. when i began working with the center, i learned my rights in the system and also tips on how to interact with police. i was taught about body language and tone and how to communicate in a way that would prevent negative outcomes. cywd works with young woman involved in the criminal-justice system. a large piece of the program is educating youth on their rights in the system and how to fight for their rights and the rights of young people in general.

last month they held their fourth conference that brought together 100 youth to educate them about their rights in the justice system. their rights as parents, informing them about gang injunctions, and their rights in schools. this is where the community and community-based organizations play an important role in educating our youth about their rights. also schools can play a critical role in educating you about their rights. the pamphlets the san francisco police department has created can be distributed at all middle and high schools throughout the city. it is worthy to note that there is no policy about how police can interact with schools -- with the youth in schools. sfpd states that "it 6 partnerships with families, schools, and service providers" and the sfud