A Sonoma County grand jury report issued Friday calls for creation of vocational facilities at the Sierra Youth Center for girls that are equal to those provided for boys who get training in welding, carpentry and food service.
The report examining both centers that provide residential treatment programs for juvenile offenders concluded that girls get the short shrift because facilities at the boys Probation Camp are better and offer so many more vocational opportunities.
?Because the current conditions and programs afforded to girls are not equivalent to what is provided for boys, the grand jury strongly recommends that the Board of Supervisors address this matter as part of their efforts to further (provide) ... an early intervention approach,? the report concluded.
Bob Ochs, the county deputy chief probation officer, said Friday he agreed the county should improve services for girls, but financial pressures on the budget make that unlikely. In fact, the Sierra Youth Center, which costs about $1.5million annually to operate, is among several probation department programs recently listed by administrators as having low priority in the effort to cut $10 million from the budget.
?We would love to have a new building, a much richer program and more resources for the Sierra center,? Ochs said. ?There is no question that the county knows that we need a new building. But, realistically, we have been in a cutting mode for the last few years.?
Officials with the county probation department, which operates the Sierra center at facilities built in the 1950s for use as the original juvenile hall, have 60 days to respond to findings and recommendations issued by the grand jury.
About 30 years ago, the Sierra Youth Center was established as an all-girls program, but that changed in the 1980s when it was determined that few offenders required intensive residential treatment, so it became a co-ed program. Then, in 2005, a Sonoma State University study recommended that a single-sex program be re-established to address gender-specific issues of girls.
The Sierra center provides a place for girls ages 12 to 18 without extensive criminal backgrounds to live for six- to 12-month periods while receiving counseling and education classes. It has a capacity for 22 teens, but Ochs said it typically houses about 15.
In addition to recommending expansion of Sierra center vocational programs, the gand jury reports concludes that supervisors ?should take all necessary steps to retain the program at SYC, even if budget cuts are required for the Probation Department.?
It does not provide recommendations on funding.
You can reach Staff Writer Bleys W. Rose at 521-5431 or bleys.rose@pressdemocrat.com.
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