Courtesy photo

The state recently completed the planned closing of the Preston Youth Correctional Facility near Stockton

The Southern Youth Reception Center and Clinic in Norwalk (Los Angeles County) is scheduled to close by January 2012 to reduce costs and improve the fiscal efficiency of the Division of Juvenile Justice, the state’s youth prison system, according to a CDCR press release.

State officials expect the closure to reduce overall costs by $17 million by summer 2012 and $44 million the following fiscal year.

The facility, which opened in 1954, currently houses 209 male juvenile offenders, who will transition to other DJJ facilities.

The population of DJJ has fallen dramatically in recent years, from a peak of about 10,000 in 1996 to about 1,200 today, mostly due to dropping crime rates, the reluctance of some counties to send youth to state-run institutions and legislation allowing only the most serious offenders to be housed by the state. Only four state youth detention centers remain, down from 11 just eight years ago.

After the Southern Youth Reception Center and Clinic closes next year, DJJ will continue to operate one facility in Ventura and two in Stockton.

DJJ completed the planned closure of the Preston Youth Correctional Facility near Stockton two weeks ago.

DJJ has come under fire recently by youth advocates citing frequent violence and continuing violations of inmates’ rights. The Prison Law Office, a Bay Area nonprofit, filed a motion in Alameda County Superior Court last month in hopes of compelling a judge to force systemwide improvements at DJJ facilities.

A hearing on the motion by is scheduled for July 7.