Former women prisoners face longer odds staying out after aid programs slashed

By Mineko Brand

 
Rehabilitation taking backseat to punishment

 

Sunshine Schmidt photo by Mineko Brand/SF Public Press

By the time Sunshine Schmidt was 19, her rebellious streak led her to prison in Wisconsin for violating probation on a forgery charge. But it was just the beginning of her troubled young adulthood. As she tells it, the uncaring reaction from a criminal justice system on autopilot put her back in prison for minor violations, only driving her further into the life of small-time crime as she racked up drug and theft-related charges. “Every time, I was released back into homelessness or an abusive partner,” she said. “I didn’t have the resources or tools to get back on my feet.” It was only three years ago, after leaving a California prison at age 27, that Schmidt was able to pursue legitimate jobs and an education. After living in transitional housing, she became a client of Way-Pass, a City College of San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that helps female ex-prison inmates adjust to everyday life.



Sunshine Schmidt takes classes and counsels other formerly incarcerated women. "This is not an issue that a lot of people think about," Schmidt said of the rights of the incarcerated and the recently released. "The system is incarcerating people and it's not helping."

By the time Sunshine Schmidt was 19, her rebellious streak led her to prison in Wisconsin for violating probation on a forgery charge. But it was just the beginning of her troubled young adulthood. As she tells it, the uncaring reaction from a criminal justice system on autopilot put her back in prison for minor violations, only driving her further into the life of small-time crime as she racked up drug and theft-related charges.

“Every time, I was released back into homelessness or an abusive partner,” she said. “I didn’t have the resources or tools to get back on my feet.”

It was only three years ago, after leaving a California prison at age 27, that Schmidt was able to pursue legitimate jobs and an education. After living in transitional housing, she became a client of Way-Pass, a City College of San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that helps female ex-prison inmates adjust to everyday life.

But young women in Schmidt’s situation now may have a harder time getting on their feet. Leaders of re-entry programs in San Francisco say state budget cuts in 2010 drastically reduced their ability to help parolees.

Collectively, California’s prison rehabilitation programs took a nearly 45 percent cut — $250 million — in fiscal year 2009-10 as legislators and the governor grappled with the state’s budget crisis.

The 2010-11 budget, passed in October after a 100-day delay, cuts $1.1 billion from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. State officials said they expected most of this to come from staff cuts, reductions in medical care and early release of prisoners. The previous year’s cuts are not expected to be reversed anytime soon.

Way-Pass lost two of its four paid positions and no longer has funds to provide scholarships, schoolbooks or cash stipends to clients.

Karen Shain, policy adviser at Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, said life in California’s female prisons is worse than ever. The reduction in education and drug treatment programs has led to violence and unrest.

The female prison population soared eightfold nationwide between 1977 and 2007, double the rate of increase for men. Mounting evidence points to economic factors, addiction and abuse as the primary causes of criminal behavior among women. Women respond much better to rehabilitation and drug treatment programs than men do, according to a corrections department study.

Schmidt said programs such as the California Coalition for Women Prisoners and City College’s Second Chance Program, both operated by and for the formerly incarcerated, are particularly effective. “We empower each other to lift each other up,” Schmidt said.

Women in prison struggle with issues distinct from those affecting men, including reuniting with parents and children, sexual abuse and trauma, gender-specific health needs and the social stigma of a felony record, said Edith Guillén-Núñez, an adviser to the Way-Pass program. But because 90 percent of released prisoners are male, many rehabilitation programs target men only.


FRAYING NETWORK OF SERVICES


San Francisco’s Walden House — Schmidt’s first stop after prison — saw a huge reduction this year in the number of female ex-inmates it was able to serve.

“That cut happened essentially overnight,” said Vitka Eisen, the nonprofit group’s chief executive officer. They were given little more than a month to prepare for a major decrease of staff and services at the beginning of 2010.


Walden House offers rehabilitation for substance abuse, domestic violence, sexual trauma, mental health services and family reunification at locations scattered around San Francisco. The organization also offers treatment inside prisons throughout California.


Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla and the adjacent Central California Women’s Facility together house most of the state’s 10,000 female prisoners and are often mentioned as the world’s most populous women’s prison complex.


Walden House this year had to reduce the number of women it serves in these prisons by more than 75 percent. “There were 750 women that we saw in the Central Valley,” Eisen said. “Now we have 175.”


The last year and a half also saw the San Francisco treatment centers downsize to 427 employees from 689 last year. Of those, 125 were laid off one day in January.


FAILED REFORM EFFORTS


A state law that had made the transition out of prison easier for offenders with drug problems was undermined by another bill three years later.


Senate Bill 1453, introduced by then-state Sen. Jackie Speier in 2006, allowed prisoners to reduce their sentence by one day for every two days spent in drug treatment in prison, provided that they also completed 150 days of an “aftercare” program upon release.


When Schmidt got out of prison, this law mandated her release to Walden House, where she completed a four-month residential treatment program.


Parolees were guaranteed a spot in a treatment program and a place to stay, rather than being given a phone number, a bus ticket and a “good luck getting in.” “That was huge,” Schmidt said. “They would actually transport you to the program.” She added, “Senate Bill 1453 saved my life.”


But this year, on top of the budget cuts, another reform added to the complications for programs offering rehabilitation to women. State Sen. Denise Ducheny’s SB 18 implemented a non-revocable parole policy in January. Those who qualify are, in effect, on parole in name only. They have no parole officers and no drug tests, and can’t violate their terms of parole. Any new offenses are treated as crimes, not parole violations.


California enacted SB 18 to comply with a federal mandate to reduce the state’s prison population to 137 percent of design capacity by 2012. Prisons have nearly double the number of inmates they were built to contain. This order is being contested before the U.S. Supreme Court.


Eisen said the reform is a step forward because it spares people from returning to prison repeatedly for minor offenses. At 70 percent, California has the highest recidivism rate in the country.


But those who have not committed sexual, violent or serious felonies, and who would be aided by the support services and early release that SB 1453 provides also qualify for non-revocable parole. This “unsupervised community release” blocks access to services provided by the parole system, such as housing, education funding and job opportunities.


CUTTING TIES TO CRIME


Schmidt’s story testifies to a system designed for punishment, not necessarily rehabilitation.


When Schmidt turned 12, she took her birthday money and ran away from home in a Wisconsin suburb. She wasn’t having any real trouble at home, but her best friend had an abusive step-father, so they took an early jump at independence.


Schmidt didn’t think it amounted to much at the time. She was just rebelling. Her mother felt differently. After she was picked up by the police and returned home, she was placed in a mental institution.


“I’ve been going through the incarceration system my whole life,” Schmidt said. “I was institutionalized in one form or another from a young age.”


At age 24, having been in and out of prison in Wisconsin, she moved to San Francisco, looking for a fresh start. Her only job experience as an adult was doing make-up in a Wisconsin beauty shop. She applied for jobs at local department stores with no success.


Unable to find work, she sold drugs again to pay her rent. One offense led to another, she got evicted, went to jail a few times, then found herself homeless and pregnant on the streets of San Francisco. In 2007, she lost custody of her 2-year-old daughter the day before her release from Valley State Prison for Women.


Schmidt knows from experience and from talking to people on both sides of the walls that once you’re in the system, it can be very difficult to get out.


Upon release, Central Valley prisons’ female inmates without family to pick them up receive $200, a pair of flip-flops and a muumuu. The downtown Fresno bus station is said to be crawling with pimps and drug dealers on the lookout for those cheap, flowered dresses.


“They’re going to do what’s comfortable and what they know,” Schmidt said. “A lot of people end up right back in the system.”


For her, the turning point was access to treatment programs, and a place to stay once she was free.
 Way-Pass offered her case management, peer counseling and referral services for clothing, food vouchers, health care and housing. Schmidt is now a case manager there.


She is getting A’s in school as she counsels other formerly incarcerated women and works toward a bachelor’s degree in legal studies or public policy. She wants to work to change legislation regarding incarceration.


When she has time to talk between five classes and her jobs at the college and an environmental non-profit, she speaks somberly about her experiences and the challenges facing incarcerated women. Though talking about these things is part of her job and her studies, it never gets easy, she said.

It was the night before Christmas

By Youth Justice Coalition


It was the night before Christmas, when all through the block

Not a gangsta was stirring, not even a cop
Our old kicks were hung over telephone lines
In hopes that the County would come through on time


The shorties were knocked out in the back of the truck
No money for a mo-mo, we were clean outta luck
But moms had her braids done, and also her tips
Thugs said she was fly - all the Eses, Bloods and Crips


We was broke and cold, but our bellies were full
And we thought Santa might show if he could get bail
Plus we had each other - that made it all right
So we all fell asleep on a cold desert night


But the quiet ended when someone got caught slippin’
Out in the street, the cops’ sirens were straight trippin’
I was up at the windshield, but my sis pulled me to the floor
"Boy, do you wanna get shot? Don't you know where you are?"


And shining its light into our little bucket
Was it Santa? - Nah just the LAPD's ghetto bird. Ahhhh, fuck it.
Still, I stayed peeping over palm trees and trash
And saw someone running toward where moms kept her stash


I was worried they'd take the small money we had
I had to be brave, I was mom’s little man
So, I leapt from the truck in my red-footed jumper
And I covered the box hidden beneath the truck bumper

Round the corner came the two drivers, coming at me so quick
But it wasn't a angel and it wasn't St Nick
They were chasing that fool, as he flew past my neck
They were driving too crazy. They was gonna cause a wreck!


And they whistled, and shouted, and called him by name!
"Fuck ya hood!" I'll kill ya!” I heard one proclaim.
Some others I now saw were in a squad car
"Hold up or we'll shoot. You won't make it that far

Whether Eses, Bloods or Crips, I couldn't quite say
But they were looking to kill, and I was right in the way
And just as they fired, the cops fired too
Little missiles of death from AKs, ninas and 22s


I ducked, but the bullets were faster than me
I felt something warm as I fell to one knee
The concrete was cold and the lights they were glaring
I heard my moms scream and saw my sisters staring


"Oh, God save this baby," I heard someone cry
But, I saw my brothers and cousins as I looked to the sky
They had all passed before me and were lighting the way
A long road of death from the streets of L.A.


Whether it was a cop or a gangsta, I still can't be sure
All I know is that guns offer only one kind of cure
I ain't mad or bitter, I got no one to blame
It ain't the corrupt system or the homies looking for fame

It's not as simple as that, not that black and white
Not good guys and bad guys mixed up in a fight
And prisons won't solve it, this war on the streets
To silence the violence ya can't do it with heat
(I realized this as they covered my face with a sheet)

Bring love to the hood, and a legit way to make ends
Recognize that the gangstas are first sons and friends
And all the homies and shorties, we're not a disease
We're just little kids trying hard to break free


To the top of the fence on top of juvenile hall
"Break away! Break away! Break away all!"
To the top of the dome above city hall
Fly Little Homie, and never fear that you'll fall

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky
So up to the roof-tops of L.A. we all flew
The black and brown angels who died before they grew


Ever wonder why Christmas in the hood isn't so merry?
It’s not just the money that lacking, it's the lost kids that's so scary
Every holiday reminds people of someone they miss
Not a grandma or uncle, but some youngster's kiss


We could stop the killing and bring peace to the block
But not with a an injunction or another cell block
Not with a blue rag or red rag at the end of a glock
Or by surrounding our houses like prisons with gates and padlocks

Not with cheap drugs that fill our veins up with doubt
Not with new lofts and Starbucks forcing poor people out
You know what to do, or I hope that you do
It's not nothing mysterious or nothing new


You just have to do it - set aside all your greed
And take time to give the homies all that we need
Schools that are decent and prepare us for college
A safe place to play that will give us some knowledge


Hush to the police and the people who lead
Hush to the gangstas too angry to bleed
Listen instead to the innocents caught in the streets
And make sure to leave justice under our Christmas trees

Food Justice is Environmental Justice is Social Justice

By Zoe Hollomon, Green For All Academy Fellow


Most people don't understand how Food Justice and Food Security relate to Social Justice and Environmental Justice. I'd like to tell you a story to about a family from my community which I hope will shed some light on these critical issues and their interconnections.

"Kimmy is a single mom living in extreme poverty with her three small children on the west side of Buffalo. She works two jobs just to pay for the basics and to keep her family afloat.


Everyday after school her three children play outside until she gets home; she quickly cooks dinner for them and the next door neighbor's two kids in exchange for her kids' evening care while she goes to her night job. Each week she tries to go to the grocery store but must take two buses and her small children with her as well as a small cart for her groceries. The trip usually takes about four hours and she can only get what she can carry in her cart.

Most weeks, because of her busy work schedule, she must get food from the corner store, which is mainly Mac-n-Cheese, microwave dinners, packaged noodles or canned foods. Otherwise her choices are one of the five fast food restaurants in her neighborhood. She knows the options aren't good but they allow her to get by, given her hectic schedule. Her kids usually come home from school hungry and go to the corner store for chips and soda since they are cheap and readily available."

This is the story of millions of people in low-income neighborhoods across the nation. Food security, or the availability of fresh, healthy and culturally appropriate food, is commonly perceived only as an issue in countries overrun with civil war or facing extreme poverty.

It is however, a fact of life and a major health and economic issue for many Americans living in low-income communities. In Buffalo alone, over two-thirds of low-income communities are "food deserts", meaning that there are none or too few healthy food options that meet basic nutritional needs. In my community the ratio of corner stores that don't offer healthy food versus stores that do is an outstanding 18:1!

What's more, the industrialized food complex, producing the bulk of the food available for consumption is also having devastating effects on the environment and our health. Globally, the food sector is the number one contributor of carbon emissions, heating our atmosphere to levels that are unfit to sustain life on earth.


Organizations like Massachusetts Avenue Project (MAP) in Buffalo and others across the country are taking these issues head on, creating innovative solutions like Aquaponics, Urban Composting, and Mobile Farmers Markets. They are connecting farmers and school districts, as well as identifying policy changes that will make food production more equitable and sustainable.



I am deeply inspired by the young people I am currently working with and those who have come before us and fought against giant odds to put people and planet over greed and profit.


For my term of service as a Green For All Academy Fellow Candidate, I am bringing together local and national organizations to integrate the pressing issues of food justice and food security into the environmental and social justice movements. We cannot put the health of people and planet and the health of the economy on opposite ends of the scale.

If you are interested in joining us in the effort to create a new vision of the food system and healthy food for all please visit the Massachusetts Avenue Project (MAP) - http://www.mass-ave.org/.


Food Justice is Environmental Justice is Social Justice.

A Moment for Movement-Building: Statement of Solidarity with Georgia Prisoner

Online Petition


On December 9, 2010, thousands of prisoners in at least six Georgia state prisons initiated the largest prisoner strike in U.S. history, uniting across racial boundaries to demand an immediate end to the cruel and dehumanizing conditions that damage prisoners, their families, and the communities they return to.



Prisoners are demanding a living wage for work, increased educational opportunities, decent health care, an end to cruel and unusual punishment, decent living conditions, nutritional meals, vocational and self-improvement opportunities, access to families, and just parole decisions. These demands are not only fair and just, but mandatory under international human rights law and the U.S. Constitution.


And it is not just Georgia where these conditions exist. Prisoners throughout this country are subject to routine dehumanization, violence, denial of basic medical care, separated from their families, exposed to illnesses, and obstructed from accessing the court. Jails and prisons throughout the U.S. are routinely in violation of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment, the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.


It is imperative that members of the legal community, human rights advocates, social justice activists, faith communities, and concerned members of the general public mobilize in support of prisoners and their families in this urgent moment. Georgia prison authorities have reportedly reacted to the peaceful strike with violence. The threat of retaliation will remain for the foreseeable future, and we must rise to the occasion with increased vigilance and action.


We are especially asking that members of the legal community recognize their unique role and serious responsibility in working to support prisoners and communities targeted by policies of mass incarceration.


We must also seize this opportunity to support and strengthen those forces fighting against race and class-based policies of mass incarceration. Under the cover of a cynical drug war, the U.S. has constructed the largest prison economy in the history of the planet, incarcerating more of its own people than any other nation in the world. And when evidence of the pervasive targeting of communities of color at every level of the criminal legal system is recognized for what it is, there is only one conclusion to arrive at: mass incarceration is the new Jim Crow.


Like the old Jim Crow, this system serves to perpetuate institutionalized racism, economic inequality, and political disenfranchisement. It seeks to pit poor whites and people of color against each other in order to keep working and middle class communities subordinate to a political and economic order that prioritizes profit at the expense of our communities and our democracy.


The transcending of the politics of racial antagonism by the prisoners in Georgia striking for their human rights and human dignity is a profound call for the renewal of visionary mass movements for social justice and freedom in this country. Our communities outside of these walls are in dire need of human rights as well: health care, educational opportunities, jobs, food, housing, peace, and a livable planet.


In building an integrated, mass movement for human rights inside and outside the prisons we are also working to undermine the conditions of social, economic, and political inequalities that fuel crime and violence.


We are asking that others sign onto this statement of solidarity and make a commitment to take action in support of the prisoners in Georgia, to take action in support of prisoners’ rights, and to help build a historic mass movement against mass incarceration and for universal human rights and dignity.



Add your name to the cause

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

A Message From President Barack Obama
 
 Moments ago, the Senate voted to end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

When that bill reaches my desk, I will sign it, and this discriminatory law will be repealed.

Gay and lesbian service members -- brave Americans who enable our freedoms -- will no longer have to hide who they are.


The fight for civil rights, a struggle that continues, will no longer include this one.


This victory belongs to you. Without your commitment, the promise I made as a candidate would have remained just that.


Instead, you helped prove again that no one should underestimate this movement. Every phone call to a senator on the fence, every letter to the editor in a local paper, and every message in a congressional inbox makes it clear to those who would stand in the way of justice: We will not quit.


This victory also belongs to Senator Harry Reid, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and our many allies in Congress who refused to let politics get in the way of what was right.


Like you, they never gave up, and I want them to know how grateful we are for that commitment.


Will you join me in thanking them by adding your name to Organizing for America's letter?


I will make sure these messages are delivered -- you can also add a comment about what the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" means to you.


As Commander in Chief, I fought to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" because it weakens our national security and military readiness. It violates the fundamental American principles of equality and fairness.


But this victory is also personal.

I will never know what it feels like to be discriminated against because of my sexual orientation.


But I know my story would not be possible without the sacrifice and struggle of those who came before me -- many I will never meet, and can never thank.

I know this repeal is a crucial step for civil rights, and that it strengthens our military and national security. I know it is the right thing to do.

But the rightness of our cause does not guarantee success, and today, celebration of this historic step forward is tempered by the defeat of another -- the DREAM Act. I am incredibly disappointed that a minority of senators refused to move forward on this important, commonsense reform that most Americans understand is the right thing for our country. On this issue, our work must continue.

Today, I'm proud that we took these fights on.

Please join me in thanking those in Congress who helped make "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal possible:

http://my.barackobama.com/Repealed

Thank you,


Barack

Oakland plans to become an environmental leader

By Dara Kerr


One of the City of Oakland's goals is to become a model green city, according to its sustainability program. For the past year and a half, the city has been hashing out an Energy and Climate Action Plan (ECAP) to identify and prioritize what it can do to lower its greenhouse gas emissions and reduce energy use. The first draft of the plan was launched on Earth Day 2010 in April, and focused on reducing the city's greenhouse gas emissions by more than a third of what they were in 2005 by the year 2020.

Since April, the plan has since gone through different reviews, iterations and workshops, and on Tuesday, the City Council Public Works Committee reviewed and discussed the newest draft of the action plan and heard from members of local nonprofits about their take on it. During the morning meeting in the council chambers, members of the committee-District 3 councilmember Nancy Nadel, councilmember at large Rebecca Kaplan, District 6 councilmember Desley Brooks and Patricia Kernighan of District 2-started by listening to Garrett Fitzgerald, the sustainability coordinator for the city, outline the plan.

"Success on the 36 percent reduction by 2020 project depends on all of the Oakland community," Fitzgerald said. This project has enlisted hundreds of local residents to contribute their ideas and participate. "Community input is critical to the development of this plan," he said.


The plan identifies the primary sources of Oakland's greenhouse gas emissions-including transportation, electricity and waste-along with a list of 150 actions that the city can take to achieve its emissions reduction goal, like adopting a green building ordinance for private development, developing regulations to more easily enable urban food production, planning for electric vehicle infrastructure and applying zero waste practices in city operations, facilities, capital improvement and maintenance.


As Fitzgerald concluded his presentation, representatives from nonprofits got ready to present their views on the plan. The majority of these non-profits are members of the Oakland Climate Action Coalition, which is a committee tasked with giving the city input on the proposed plan. Speakers included representatives from Urban Habitat, a environmental, economic and social justice group based in Oakland, who talked about transportation related pollution, the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, a group that works to empower low-income Asian Pacific Islander communities in the Bay Area, who talked about gentrification near transit hubs like the Lake Merritt BART station, and the Local Clean Energy Alliance, a coalition of Bay Area non-profits working on climate protection and green jobs, who talked about the need for Oakland to diversify its financing options.


"What's rationally needed is bold and creative action," said Ian Kim, director of the Green-Collar Jobs Campaign at the Ella Baker Center, which is an Oakland-based group that works on environmental, economic and social justice campaigns. "Oakland has the potential to lead many cities in the U.S." He said that in order for the plan to succeed, changes needed to be made to better consider "green collar" jobs, which create work opportunities-like green building, habitat restoration and sustainable agriculture-for low-income communities.

Michelle Mascarenhas-Swan, strategy initiatives director for the Movement Generation Justice & Ecology Project, an Oakland-based group that provides information and analysis about food, agriculture and the environment, spoke about the importance of food production and transportation and water treatment and transportation in reducing emissions. "Food is globally responsible for a third of green house emissions," she said. Although the plan has several provisions addressing local food production and waste management, Mascarenhas-Swan says it could go even further by supporting more local food production. "Food prices are going up," she said. "A climate plan needs to incorporate a long range adaptation." She then handed out maps to the council members showing where there is farmable land in the city.

Emissions produced by the Port of Oakland were also brought up during the meeting, even though the port is specifically mentioned in the current draft of the plan. "The port is responsible for 10 percent of the greenhouse gases committed to the city," said Al Weinrub, who is on the conservation committee for the local Sierra Club chapter. "The ECAP has no expectations for the port." He was referring to the fact that emission standards have not yet been set for the port-the plan only says that the port must set goals in alliance with the 36 percent reduction objective. Weinrub said that the port is not taking enough responsibility in lowering its emissions and that the city should pay more attention to it. "The port has missed the boat and the city is missing the boat with it," he concluded.


While each speaker had criticisms and recommendations, they all said they were glad the city is working on the plan. Once the open forum finished, council members addressed the audience. Kaplan focused on coming up with actions the city could undertake for little money, like prohibiting fuel-powered leaf blowers and easing restrictions on residential greywater systems. "We can have a lot of impact with little money spent," she said. She also said it was important for the city to work on getting the plan implemented, rather than just focusing on discussion. "We don't want to spend all this time and come up with a lovely plan that just sits on the shelf," she said.

Brooks said she was worried about how the city would manage to finance such an extensive plan. The estimated cost to the city to fulfill the ECAP's list is $9 million a year but according to Brooks there's only available funding for $2.5 million a year. "That gives me pause," she said. "We have to look at the total picture and figure out how it's going to get implemented."

Kernighan echoed Kaplan's focus on low-cost solutions and Brooks' concern that the city is in a financial crisis. "It seems like we can definitely make some progress," she said. "Some of these issues are going to continue to be debated. We aren't going to resolve them in one more meeting or two more meetings."

Nadel concluded the meeting by saying that the committee will work on a list of what could be done in the short term for less money. The next committee meeting will be scheduled in February.


Courtesy the Ella Baker Center News Room

COLLEGE PREP, NOT PRISON PREP!

By Danae Tapia & Gregory Holmes

Youth March 50-Miles Across L.A. County for An End to the School-to-Jail Track December 14 News Event To Be Held In Front of Los Angeles Unified School District

What: Young people, some dressed in Jail uniforms, are organizing a week of activities including a 4-day, 50 mile march from Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar to the California Youth Authority/Department of Juvenile Justice in Norwalk to call for an end to the push-out of students from schools into the streets and an eventual end for far too many in either incarceration or death. The march will begin on Monday, December 13th at noon and end at 8pm on Thursday, December 16th. Each day, youth will stop at key locations including juvenile halls, courts, the County Department of Probation, and schools, and meeting with city, county and state legislators along the way. As part of the YJC’s effort to gather experiences and opinions we will survey about 500 Los Angeles residents along the march route.

Who: The YOUTH JUSTICE COALITION is a growing movement led by the young people formerly or currently incarcerated on Probation or Parole. For most youth, their push out of school was a push toward underemployment and incarceration. To most people, we are invisible and forgotten, locked away in dusty corners of LA County, behind barbed wire and concrete -- in juvenile halls, county jails, camps and youth authorities. We represent thousands of youth. Some of us are as young as 7; almost all of us are poor; almost all of us are people of color. No one wants gang violence to stop more than we do. We have dedicated our lives to that cause. We know that violence won’t be ended by “declaring a war on youth”, but through community schools that are open to young people and their families as resource centers. We need community and school-based intervention, and job opportunities. Just 1% of the County’s law enforcement budget would provide 100 million dollars a year for positive youth development.

When: March Begins: Monday, December 13, 2010 at noon at Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar (16350 Filbert St, Sylmar 91342). Tuesday December 14th, at 2pm: Rally at Los Angeles Unified School District Headquarters. Thursday, December 16th at 8pm: Candlelight vigil at Norwalk CYA/DJJ Southern Reception Center


Where: Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar is located on 16350 Filbert St, Sylmar 91342. The LAUSD is located on 333 South Beaudry Ave., Los Angeles, California 90017 (Just south of 2nd Street in Downtown Los Angeles). A full schedule of activities throughout the march is available.


Why: Four decades ago, California led the nation and the world in operating a quality K-12 and university education system. However, with the rush to incarcerate youth – particularly youth of color, for less and less serious offenses, the state and county transferred larger and larger funds toward police – including school police – and lock-ups. California now leads the nation and the world in prison spending, and is #50 in education spending, despite our ranking as the richest nation in the world and the 5th riches economy in the world. Most schools in poor and working class communities look and operate more like prisons, and Los Angeles now leads the nation in school push-outs, low test scores and school overcrowding. The YJC is urging an end to the School-to-Jail Track, and a re-investment in positive youth opportunities and school safety and success plans that prepare youth for college and living-wage careers rather than incarceration and death.





Clock Running Out On Child Care For 55,000 Children

By Chris Levister



As promised, Assembly Speaker John Perez (D-Los Angeles), introduced an emergency bill to reinstate CalWorks Stage 3 funds for welfare-to- work child care subsidies through the rest of fiscal year ending June 30. The bill, AB 1, requests the restoration of $233 million in state funds, and was the first item of business to be taken up Monday by the new Legislature.



Perez and others are pinning their funding reinstatement hopes on incoming Democratic Governor Jerry Brown whose father (former Governor Edmund G. “Pat” Brown) worked on the early versions of the founding legislation for CalWorks. With the state facing upwards of a $25 billion deficit for the current fiscal year, and predictions from the Legislative Analyst’s Office that the deficit will continue to grow “into 2016” there are no historical or partisan guarantees.

Estella Johnson, 56 (left) a San Bernardino child care provider 20 years, says Governor Schwarzenegger's final attack on state child care cements his legacy of betraying children and working parents like Estelle Nelson, 43 (middle) now forced to pay for care out of pocket.



Meanwhile, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in one of his last acts as governor proposed Monday to close $9.9 billion of the state budget shortfall mostly through additional cuts in health and social programs like CalWorks.


Parents of 55,000 children in California will lose childcare support at the end of January if the state legislature does not reinstate the funds Schwarzenegger line-itemvetoed from the CalWorks program in October.

The program, stage 3, subsidizes low-income families who have successfully worked themselves off welfare and have not received state aid for at least two years.


Early this October, working families across the state were blindsided.


Parents were given nineteen days to change childcare. Children were abruptly pulled out of daycare and after school programs. At the start of November, an Alameda district judge granted temporary relief by ordering a reprieve.

The County Welfare Directors Association of California called Republican Schwarzenegger a “hypocrite”.


A spokeswoman for Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) likened the governor’s veto to an act of cruelty.


San Bernardino child provider Estella Johnson says years of budget cuts combined with constant threats and political manipulation has placed parents and their child care providers in a Catch 22: “They can’t work without child care, but if they can’t afford child care, they can’t work and we don’t get paid.”


Johnson a licensed provider for more than 20 years says CalWorks once a bridge out of poverty for thousands of welfare recipients has been decimated by Schwarzenegger’s insistence that the state budget be balanced on the backs of children.

“Throughout the entire span of his time in Sacramento, Schwarzenegger has seemed intent on both raiding child care funding and weakening the security of that funding,” said Johnson.


Child-care providers are confused, many aren’t being paid, and some have stopped providing care. This has left some parents scrambling for alternatives and perhaps losing their jobs or only working part-time.


Some parents are getting unemployment benefits or public assistance for the first time now because they cannot afford child care.


Meanwhile, Johnson will try to manage. Giving financial breaks to families like Estelle Nelson now forced to pay for child care out of pocket.


Nelson, a community resource worker for the San Bernardino School District laid off for more than a year was turned down for child care assistance when she returned to work recently.


“First they put me on a waiting list then they said I didn’t qualify because I had to be receiving cash aid. Then they put me on Stage Two for child care assistance. A short time later they sent me a letter informing me that my income was too high.”


The result says Nelson is “my husband and I are struggling to pay out of pocket.”


Johnson said parents, some of whom now work several jobs continue to bring their children to her home, meanwhile there’s plenty of confusion and frustration surrounding provider reimbursement.


“You end up getting paid at the state’s whim,” she said. “Child care is local small business -- it not only assists families to work, but payments to child care providers and centers feed the economy because we immediately turn around and use the income to pay mortgages, buy food and support other local services.”

Johnson refuses to turn away existing clients who can’t pay.


“Many of them are on the brink of returning to welfare,” she said.

Ending state support for child care would also end the much-heralded and generally successful, social contract that was part of the national and state commitment to restructuring welfare programs.

The 1996 federal welfare law and its 1997 California counterpart ended adults’ lifetime “entitlement” to cash assistance and required adults receiving assistance to work. In return, families received a commitment from policymakers ensuring they had access to job training and child care.

The governor’s action sets aside provisions to the state welfare-towork program made famous by Ronald Reagan. During his bid for Governor of California, in 1966 Reagan campaigned successfully on the theme, “send the welfare bums back to work.”

Johnson says the program’s uncertain future won’t change her passion for caring.


“By the grace of God, I’ve had a hand in caring for generations of children who’ve grown up to become productive citizens. Quality care helps ensure that children will be ready for success in school.”


“How can we expect positive outcomes from our students if we eliminate the foundation of education?” she said. “As much as I would like to provide services for free or at reduced cost, I don’t have the resources. It’s very frustrating.”

Area First 5 agencies have approved millions to provide transitional funding to ensure ongoing access to child care for children through age 5. The funds if needed will grant up to three months of services to qualified families.


Whether the governor’s actions on the budget are indeed cruel and hypocritical will likely be debated in the annals of history.


Schwarzenegger leaves office Jan. 3 after a tumultuous tenure marred by the state’s fiscal mess and fights with Republicans who decried tax increases and with Democrats who resisted his spending cuts.


Courtesy Black Voice News

By HHS Newtork of California

Governor-elect Jerry Brown is convening a special budget forum in the Capitol on Wednesday to discuss the tough choices California will have to make to address the state’s $25.4 billion budget deficit over the next year and a half.


We’ve made billions in cuts to health and human services over the last few years, and it hasn’t fixed the deficit. If anything, it’s put our state in a far more vulnerable position as thousands of people have been forced out of work during the worst economic recession since the 1930s.


That’s why a new approach is needed.


Governor-elect Brown’s forum is an opportunity to start a new dialogue and pave the way for a new, more sustainable approach to how we budget for our priorities in California.
 
 
Save the Date: CAP Budget Forum

California Partnership is hosting a post-election forum in OAKLAND on FRIDAY December 10th and you’re invited to participate! To learn how you can get involved, and more for details, please contact HHS Network Field Coordinator Astrid Campos at acampos@communitychange.org.


Event Details:

Post-Election Forum
St. Mary's Center, 925 Brockhurst Street, Oakland, CA
Friday, December 10th, 10am – 11.30am


More of the Same: Gov. Schwarzenegger unveils special session budget


On Monday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled his special session budget calling for devastating cuts to California’s health and human services infrastructure – including the proposed elimination of CalWORKS, steep cuts to cash grants for seniors and people with disabilities, and substantial cuts to health care services and programs, including the elimination of vision coverage for kids.


If the Governor’s special session budget proposals seem familiar, that’s because they are. Assembly Speaker John Perez called the Governor’s latest package of deep cuts a “rehash of proposals we have already considered and rejected,” reports the San Francisco Chronicle.


Click here to read more about Gov. Schwarzenegger’s latest “cuts-only” solution to the state budget.


Courtesy of HHS Network of California