Blog posts -- Criminal justice

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors split Tuesday on a decision to relinquish a $38.9 million state grant for a transition complex that was recently cut from plans for a North County jail. The 3-2 decision effectively kills a last-minute proposal from Sheriff Bill Brown, who sought reconsideration of the grant to alternatively fund the 228-bed treatment facility, which would have been staffed by the county’s Alcohol, Drug, and Mental Health Services department. The board...

By Leah Bartos Pediatric patients giving their health histories at the Center for Youth Wellness, a health clinic in the impoverished Bayview Hunter’s Point area of San Francisco, are asked for more than the usual details about allergies and current prescriptions. Doctors there need a different kind of medical history: did their parents use drugs or have a mental illness? Were any family member in jail or prison? Have their parents divorced or separated? Have they suffered from...

A pilot program employed since September has prompted 80 percent of drug offenders to seek treatment. Before the pilot program, drug abusers had no incentive to get treatment, said Steve Wright, assistant district attorney. Supervisors voted 5-0 to pass the funding plan for a new drug court that emphasizes treatment instead of confinement. The program will save the county money over the long run: Confinement is expensive, and successful treatment will prevent crime, resulting in savings in...