NCYL is working to thoughtfully implement the historic passage of SB 823 (2020), the law that signaled California's intention to close its Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) and youth prisons, to replace it with a system that honors the potential of youth, not needlessly punish them.

In 2017, California passed SB 395, a law that prohibits police from interrogating youth under age 16 until the youth has had a chance to talk with an attorney about their rights. SB 395 sunsets January 2025.

Passed in 2020, AB 2425 ensures that youth who are diverted from the juvenile justice system when they come into contact with law enforcement or at the referral of a probation department, as well as those who do not fall within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court under state law, are protected from the negative collateral consequences of a police record. This bill also ensures that diversion service providers maintain the confidentiality of their records.

AB 901 supports a new vision for youth development and system diversion throughout California – one that recognizes youth by their strengths, promotes meaningful community and school-based interventions to support youth in their development and educational success, eliminates “voluntary probation supervision,” and reduces the high economic and emotional costs of youth arrest, court involvement, detention and incarceration that occur much more often once youth come into contact with probation and other law enforcement.

In 2020, California enacted SB 823 / AB 1868, which phases the closure of California's Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) and instead provides resources to counties for supervision and service delivery to youth in conflict with the law.