For over a year Books Not Bars “Alternatives for Youth” campaign has been fighting in Sacramento and all over California to close down the eight notorious youth prisons in the California Youth Authority system. After years of stories of youth dying while in custody and being subjected to cruel punishments and inhumane searches, Books not Bars has started organizing families with youth in the CYA and allies in a campaign to close the prisons and open local rehabilitation centers and expand community-based alternatives in their place. The DataCenter has helped with research on juvenile arrest trends and possible county alternatives to CYA incarceration.

For further information see: Books Not Bars