Pubdate: Wed, 4 Feb 2004 Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA) Copyright: 2004 San Jose Mercury News Contact: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390 Author: Karen de Sá, Mercury News Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) LAWMAKER DEMANDS QUICK OVERHAUL OF CYA SACRAMENTO - Describing the state's treatment of young offenders as ``barbaric,'' state Sen. Gloria Romero called Tuesday for an immediate settlement of a lawsuit charging the state with inmate abuse -- and an end to the draconian conditions described in a series of reports released this week on the California Youth Authority. Prison reformers are fighting in court to overhaul the CYA, a network of 10 facilities that houses the state's most serious and violent young offenders, ages 12 to 25. Romero, a Rosemead Democrat, wants the Schwarzenegger administration to overhaul the CYA, rather than paying attorneys to fight the lawsuit. ``We have a problem, and it's serious -- it's beyond serious -- it's barbaric,'' Romero said. ``If we cannot rehabilitate the CYA first and foremost, then forget rehabilitating the lives of the youth.'' It comes as no surprise to state legislators that California puts some of its youngest prisoners in cages, locks others down for 23 hours a day and over-medicates youth suspected of having psychiatric problems. For 20 years, report after report has condemned inhumane conditions inside the institutions. The state held hearings on the CYA in 2000, when many of the current problems were revealed. But little has changed. Unlike adult prisons, the Youth Authority is charged with providing treatment and education for inmates. But according to reports written in response to a lawsuit filed by the non-profit Prison Law Office in 2003, conditions in lock-up are actually pushing young offenders further into lives of crime, and deepening mental illnesses suffered by a majority of wards. In response to the reports, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has called for a blue ribbon commission. But flanked by some of the state's most respected juvenile justice professionals Tuesday, Romero said no more talk, reports or task forces are needed. She wants the state to make sure inmates receive an education and health care that meets professional standards. The institution, she said, needs a massive culture change so that daily life is no longer disrupted by fights and guards no longer rely on Mace and isolation to force young inmates into submission. Romero said the state pays as much as $80,000 per year for each of the more than 4,400 wards at CYA, and is getting nothing in return for the investment. The CYA's new director, Walter Allen, said his job is ``not to look in the rear-view mirror,'' and he is already drafting an action plan to correct the problems. A spokesman for Roderick Hickman, secretary of the umbrella agency, the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency, said the state will continue negotiating a settlement with Don Specter of the Prison Law Office. Specter insisted that any agreement will have to include a timetable for reforms and monitoring by outside consultants or the courts. After 25 years of reviewing conditions in adult prisons such as Pelican Bay and Corcoran, Specter said CYA is unique in the nation. ``I've never seen an institution this out of control, with this much violence,'' he said. ``It's an organization that's failing and doesn't know how to correct itself.'' Twenty-one-year-old Christopher Siegle of Walnut Creek spent two years in CYA, after committing a series of thefts for money to buy drugs. Recently paroled from a Stockton facility to an unsupervised Oakland motel, he overdosed within 45 days and held up a local grocery store with a BB gun. He is now in jail. His father, Larry Siegle, a supervisor for a security company, said in an interview this week that there's no excuse for the crimes, and his son should pay for them. But his time served at CYA was spent doped up on powerful anti-psychotic medications and sleeping 20 hours per day - -- the institution's response when Christopher began hallucinating and hearing voices. ``The effects of his time at CYA were detrimental to the extent that he did not receive the kinds of help and support that may have led to treatment and recovery,'' Siegle said. ``They're just left there in limbo.'' - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin