Contra Costa supervisors agree to close Byron Boys Ranch, shift to home-based program

After delaying a decision for a week, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors has agreed to shutter the longtime Orin Allen Youth Rehabilitation Center, a low-security center for male teenage lawbreakers in unincorporated Byron, and replace it with a new home-based program.

The decision came on a 3-2 vote Tuesday despite numerous impassioned pleas from stakeholders and residents to keep the center – commonly known as the Byron Boys Ranch – open until spring. Supervisors Federal Glover and John Gioia voted against the proposal, hoping that a delay would give time for a new alternative program to get up and running.

“The community (home-based) model is great,” Gioia said. “But not all young people are going to be in that; the court may order something else. So let’s be ready, if the ranch is going to close, that we can accommodate these young people and they don’t get lost in the system and end up somewhere more institutional than they would have otherwise ended up.”

Built in 1960, the Byron center can house up to 100 teenage boys in a low-security program designed to help rehabilitate those who have committed less serious crimes. The boys attend school, and are counseled and mentored for an eventual transition home.

But in recent years, there’s been an increase in investment in community programming, juvenile crime has declined, and trends in charging and sentencing “delinquent” youths have moved away from incarceration, leading to a decline in the population at the ranch, according to the staff report.

As a result, the number of residents there has gone from 62 in April 2018 to 12 as of Nov. 1 of this year, though officials noted that there has been a recent stoppage in referrals as the county mulls over what to do with the facility.

The dwindling population and $5.4 million in necessary repairs to keep the ranch open as well as an average of $595,579 in annual maintenance have led probation officials and others to consider funneling money toward community programs that better serve the lower-risk youths.

Chief Probation Officer Esa Ehmen-Krause, who oversees the Martinez juvenile hall and the ranch, noted that the rate of youth reoffending in the past three years is 67%.

“This data makes it very clear that we have to do something different,” she said.

Ehmen-Krause also noted that the passage of Senate Bill 823 and 92 calling for the closure of the state Division of Juvenile Justice — where some more serious teen offenders could have been placed —  shifts supervision responsibilities for those youths to the counties.

To abide by the new state mandates, Contra Costa County has rebranded its program for youth offenders, calling it the Briones Youth Academy, with three “paths” of rehabilitation depending on the crime. The lowest level of three approaches of correction is the “community path,” which would be an alternative, home-based model for low- and moderate-risk youths previously placed at the ranch, she said.

“We’re asking for a 90-day window to really transition,” Ehmen-Krause said. “Obviously, we want to get the kids out of there (the Orin Allen Center) and make sure the families are prepared, and we’re also going to need a little more time for more information of some of our justice partners, and to make sure everyone feels really comfortable.”

The probation officer projected all but four youths now incarcerated there will complete their required programming and be eligible for release by the end of the year; the remainder could transition to a new home-based program.

At the same time, the county must also plan for a new multi-use central campus for enhanced programming, academic and technical career educational spaces to serve youth offenders, she said.

But many residents, while intrigued by the proposed alternate program, told supervisors they wanted the community to have more say in its planning and to see it in operation before committing to closing the Boys Ranch.

Dr. Lonnie Bristow, a volunteer senior tutor there, urged the board not to sell the facility and its 50 acres, although that was not part of the proposal.

“Please realize that home is not the solution to the criminal or antisocial behavior of these youth,” he said. “Instead, in many ways, it’s a part of the cause of their problem. And the real cause is the lack of an appropriate father figure in the home. And there is a ton of data to support that.”

West Contra Costa teacher Francisco Ortiz asked the board to hold off on closing the ranch, saying it would disproportionately affect communities of color at a time when the county has committed to reducing such disparities.

“We demand the Board of Supervisors listen and respond to the community’s needs by voting no to the ranch closure until a full community pathway that includes funding, staffing, community resources and wraparound services provided by competent and geographically represented CBOs (community-based organizations) has been implemented and proven successful,” he said.

Gioia pointed to a recent Juvenile Justice Commission report, which suggested delaying the ranch’s closure to evaluate the results of the new community program.

But Ehmen-Krause said if the Byron center is not closed, her staff would not be able to fully implement all the programs required by Senate Bills 823 and 92.

“It’s really not a financial issue; it’s a bodies issue, and there is unfortunately no way to grow the scale of the programming without the staff to administer the programs,” she said, noting the county couldn’t keep both the ranch open and launch the new program.

Supervisor Diane Burgis asked if those remaining residents at the Ranch would be sent back to juvenile hall, noting some residents feared that. She also asked if there was a backup plan if a teen’s home was not stable.

Ehmen-Krasue indicated such youths would enter the new community home-based program but if the home situation wasn’t stable, then they would be placed elsewhere.

Gioia pointed out possible unintended consequences of the ranch closing and not having the option of sending youths to the low-security facility.

“What happens when the court says they’re not ready to go home with or without supervision, electronic monitoring; we don’t have a low-security option,” Gioia said. “So they then fall into the commitment track, which is juvenile hall.”

But Supervisor Candice Andersen wanted to move forward with the new program.

“I think it’s just time to rip off the Band-Aid, and let’s move forward and not keep talking about it because it doesn’t make sense to try to keep both programs going in parallel .… You don’t have the staffing but more importantly, you don’t want the youth out there when they could be back home, either.”

Gioia then made a substitute motion to extend the closure to March, which Glover seconded, saying he wanted to have the alternate program in place first and give other juvenile justice partners the opportunity “to become a part of what that looks like.”

The substitute motion failed, and Andersen’s first motion was then approved.