STATE SETTLES LAWSUIT OVER JUVENILE-PRISON REFORMS.

Byline: David M. Drucker Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO - Settling a lawsuit with a prisoners-rights group, the state agreed on Monday to overhaul the juvenile prison system, focusing on rehabilitation rather than punishment.

Some of the most immediate changes coming to the California Youth Authority will affect the Heman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility in Chino, which faces a March 1 deadline to implement a plan ensuring that wards are released from their cells daily for education, vocation and counseling programs - not just for meals and recreation.

``We're thrilled to be part of this exciting move forward as we work to develop a system that provides the treatment and rehabilitation the juvenile offenders need and which makes all of us safer,'' said staff attorney Sara Norman of the Prison Law Office, the San Quentin-based group that sued the state.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was already working with the Prison Law Office and other prison-reform advocates to reform the CYA, and the settlement was lauded by some of the administration's most ardent critics.

State Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero last week introduced legislation to overhaul the CYA, saying the governor was not moving fast enough to fix the agency's problems. She still plans to move her bill forward, but lauded Schwarzenegger for settling, indicating it may eliminate the need for legislation.

``I will say that the administration - although having been leveraged to get to the table - I salute, I congratulate and I applaud because we have moved farther forward with this administration than we have moved with any other administration,'' said Romero, D-Los Angeles, and chairwoman of the Senate Select Committee on the California Correctional System.

The settlement calls for the state to meet several deadlines - beginning Friday and culminating Nov. 30 - for delivering specific plans covering various aspects of reform.

Part of transforming the CYA into a rehabilitation-centered system involves adjusting punishment procedures and training all staff members as counselors, not just security-minded supervisors. Another is to ensure that wards are placed in facilities near where their families live.

CYA Director Walter Allen III described the overhaul as change that will ``lay the foundation for a more therapeutic environment for the young offenders charged to our care.''

Under the terms of the settlement, the CYA must meet the following deadlines:

--Friday to deliver a plan to improve medical care.

--March 1 to deliver a plan to improve education.

--April 8 to deliver a plan to improve mental health care.

--May 2 to deliver plans to make facilities more accessible to disabled wards and to improve the treatment of wards who are sexual offenders.

--Nov. 30 to deliver a plan to improve the safety and security of wards.

Although facilities will emphasize positive reinforcement over punitive punishment and phase out lockdowns, wards deemed a security risk to others will still be separated from those seen as ``vulnerable'' to attacks.

A court-appointed special master, a consultant to be hired by the CYA and Prison Law Office attorneys will jointly monitor the overhaul along with the youth authority.

``There are a lot of billy clubs that are going to make sure'' the reforms are completed, Romero said.

David M. Drucker, [phone]

david.drucker(at)dailynews.com