Trying to find a solution to contined escapes from the William
F. James Boys Ranch northeast of the city, Mayor Dennis Kennedy has
asked for a meeting between himself, County Supervisor Don Gage and
Supervising Juvenile Court Judge Richard Loftus.
Trying to find a solution to contined escapes from the William F. James Boys Ranch northeast of the city, Mayor Dennis Kennedy has asked for a meeting between himself, County Supervisor Don Gage and Supervising Juvenile Court Judge Richard Loftus.
“We will talk about who they are sending to this facility and make sure they understand what is happening,” Kennedy said Monday.
No date has been set for the meeting.
Since January, a total of 17 boys in seven separate incidents have run away from the ranch.
Gage said he had discussed the situation with Loftus but would happily do so again. He is especially concerned about sentencing.
“Sentencing is entirely in the hands of the judges,” Gage said Monday, “and repeat runaways are returned to the ranch. In the case of the four who recently escaped, this is not the first time; several others have the same issue. The courts refer them right back to the ranch and you know they’ll run again. But the courts don’t have a lot of options.”
Gage said judges basically must send the boys either to Juvenile Hall, the California Youth Authority or the ranch. Boys at the ranch are aged 14-18.
Judge Loftus said there are some options.
“The probation department has any number of options on rehabilitation,” Loftus said. “The ranch is one. There is Juvenile Hall, sending them home with an electronic monitor, community release, CYA – we have dozens of options.”
Gage said he also wants people to understand who the boys are and whether they can be rehabilitated at the ranch.
“There is a misconception of who’s in there,” Gage said. “They are children by age but they are juvenile delinquents. Many are gang members, some of their grandfathers were even gang members. It’s not the same as a problem child in a family that is dysfunctional.”
Teens aged 14-18 are sentenced to the ranch for 120-day terms.
The county probation department confirmed in March that nearly a third of the 1,068 teens confined at the ranch since 2000 have been convicted of a “serious crime against people,” a category that includes assault with a deadly weapon.
The ranch in recent years has housed arsonists, car thieves and boys convicted of date rape and committing lewd acts with children under 14.
Critics of the ranch say those numbers prove that the boys are a danger to the community, but probation officials, children’s advocates, a public defender and even a district attorney said in March that minimum security facilities are the best hope for rehabilitating youthful offenders.
The ranch may have problems, they said, but residents who think those boys should be at maximum security institutions misunderstand the purpose of the juvenile justice system.
“The public doesn’t understand that when we’re talking about adolescent criminal behavior we’re talking about therapeutic approaches,” Sylvia Perez, supervising attorney for the juvenile unit of the Santa Clara County Public Defender’s office, said last month.
“Punishment has to be related to rehabilitation. We can’t take the ‘lock ’em up’ approach. “
Gage intends to find a solution to the persistent runaway problem. “People need to feel safe in their community,” he said. “We owe that to the folks.”
Staff writer Matt King contributed to this story.
Carol Holzgrafe covers City Hall for The Times. She can be reached by e-mail at ch********@mo*************.com or phoning (408) 779-4106 Ext. 201.
