John Deasy, the controversial former superintendent who led the Los Angeles Unified School District for three-and-a-half turbulent years, is embarking on a new venture that could prove just as challenging: keeping juvenile offenders from returning to jail. 

Deasy wants to do that by opening alternative juvenile prisons in Los Angeles and Alameda counties that could include activities such as yoga, meditation, art, counseling, athletics and education. His goal is to reduce recidivism by 50%.

The vehicle, he said, will be a new nonprofit he is creating called New Day, New Year. 

The plight of incarcerated youth has long been a concern of Deasy’s. He said he began thinking about it as an educator when he saw students leave to serve time.

Deasy’s efforts come as several groups are moving to create alternatives to L.A. County’s long-troubled juvenile jails.  In March, a county-commissioned report found Central Juvenile Hall to be a “Third World country prison” where “no one cares.”

Deasy’s embrace of helping troubled youth mirrors that of former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Duncan, a Deasy ally, left the Obama administration in late 2015 and joined the nonprofit education organization, the Emerson Collective, launching an initiative to help dropouts avoid prison by returning to school or finding work.

To read LA Times Staff Writer Howard Blume's story, please click here.