Sacramento - The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) officially announced Thursday that it will close the Preston Youth Correctional Facility in Ione in response to a declining population as more youth are remaining at the local county level.

The closure would affect roughly 400 staff, most of whom live locally. As many as 224 juvenile wards will be incorporated into remaining youth facilities throughout the state, which include the O.H. Close and N.A. Chaderjian youth correctional facilities in Stockton.

“These changes will allow the Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) to operate more effectively and efficiently as the state adapts to changes in our youth population,” said CDCR Secretary Matthew Cate. “We have made great strides in developing improved treatment and rehabilitation programs for juvenile offenders and it is important that DJJ operates as cost-effectively as possible to continue that progress.”

According to the CDCR, “The number of youthful offenders in the DJJ has declined over the last decade from a peak of nearly 10,000 to its current population of approximately 1,350.” The decrease is credited to recent state legislation that narrows the defined offenses for DJJ incarceration.

“This is part of the fundamental shift of keeping lower level offenders at home near local treatment services and it facilitates support from their families and the community at large,” said the CDCR in a release.

The Amador County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday expressed their opposition to the closure in the form of a letter to be sent to Cate and copied to several state legislators. They requested CDCR hold local community hearings to discuss the impacts the closure would have.

The board said “any decision to shut the doors at Preston Youth Correctional Facility in Ione will have a tremendous negative impact on the community of Ione and the County.” They said they are “dismayed at the lack of transparency” in determining the closure and insisted a more complete analysis be made.

They referenced the number of services provided for the youth of Preston, and the “many generations within families in our community who have made their profession in the field of corrections.”

Opened in 1894 as the Preston School of Industry, it has since become the state’s oldest operating facility for juvenile offenders.

Preston is one of four California youth facilities recently considered for closure. The DJJ has closed nine institutions and conservation camps in recent years. They did not say whether the Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp will be affected.

Staff members were officially informed on Thursday.

The closure will happen June 30, 2011.

Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.