Miraloma Park Improvement Club

Letter to BOS opposing closure of Juvenile Hall

May 31, 2019

Norman Yee, President, and Members
Board of Supervisors
City Hall, Room 244
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102

Dear President Yee and Members Board:

On behalf of the Miraloma Park Improvement Club and our approximately 500 members, I am writing to express opposition to the closure of the San Francisco Juvenile Justice Center prior to the completion of the Mayor’s Juvenile Reform Blue Ribbon Panel process.

It is commendable that both the Boad of Supervisors and Mayor are motivated to improve services to San Francisco’s youth involved in the juvenile probation system. As you know, these youth, as a population, are economically disadvantaged, lack appropriate family support, and are at high risk for durther engagement in both juvenile and adult probation systems. These young people urgently need the best support services tha the City can provide.

We are favorably impressed with the composition of the Juvenile Reform Blue Ribbon Panel: senior representatives of the Human Rights COmmission, Juvenile Probation, the Public Defender’s Office, other relevant City departments, the Superior Court, San Francisco Unified School District, and a member of the Board of Supervisors, as well as juvenile justive advocates, community-based service providers, and individuals and youth with firsthand experience in the juvenile justice system. Our expectation is that the Panel’s findings will be based upon careful research and will lead, in turn, to meaningful reform of San Francisco’s juvenile probation sysem and to optimized positive opurtunity for San Francisco’s high risk youth.

We urge you, therefore, to support the Reform Blue Ribbon Panel process by rejecting any proposals to close the Juvenile Justice Center prior to completion of the Panel’s study and findings. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Joan Van Rijn
President

Cc: Mayor London N. Breed