A group of probation chiefs from nearly every county in the state has decided to disband a secretive nonprofit organization they set up to work out of the public eye on a sweeping state-ordered reform of juvenile justice.
on the group’s history, organization and financing and followed months of questioning by advocacy groups, some of which sued over its approach to state open meeting laws and its rejection of requests to review its records.in a news release June 23.
The announcement abruptly ends an unusual chapter in the nearly three-year-long plan by the state to close down the youth detention system and transfer responsibility back to the counties. In response to that legislation in early 2021, 55 of the 58 probation chiefs in the state quietly banded together and formed the nonprofit. It was focused on housing and treating those youths in the system who needed to be held in secure facilities, which not all counties in the state have.
An expert on government transparency criticized that stance, arguing the law holds that any entity that conducts a “core government function” is subject to the open government and transparency laws of the state. Elizabeth Siggins, the executive director of the consortium, said in an email that the group decided to disband because the short-term goal of managing the return of youths from the state to county facilities had been completed, and that, as it turned out, there was less need to house youths in other counties than first thought. She said documents that discuss a longer-term role were done before the formation of the consortium when there were “many discussions taking place” at that time.
“An organization that fights so hard to avoid transparency and public participation cannot effectively or appropriately coordinate California’s juvenile justice realignment,” she wrote in an email.
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