California Governor Jerry Brown may have finally realized what our families have known for years — dumping youth in prisons doesn’t make us safer.

Hundreds of millions of Californians' tax dollars are spent every year to lock up a small number of youth in the notorious Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) youth prisons. It costs over $200,000 to lock up one youth per year, and DJJ's recidivism rate is an appalling 81%, one of the worst in the nation. 

The state budget Gov. Brown just proposed would eliminate the Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) once and for all, and fund counties to treat youth instead, but the budget fight is far from over. 

Anything can happen during budget negotiations. Funding for the broken and ineffective system of youth prisons could still be reinstated before the governor’s March 10 deadline for a budget vote.  Strong opposition to the closure of DJJ may derail Gov. Brown’s plan to shut down this wasteful and expensive system for good.

Local programs are able to serve youth better with treatments that cost less and have more successful outcomes if given the right funding and oversight. That's why we need to tell California legislators to follow the Governor’s lead -- and we have just days to speak out and make sure state lawmakers stick to the plan to shutter DJJ.  

Take action to make sure California’s lawmakers follow through with what is best for our youth and eliminate funding for the DJJ youth prison system.