The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

So, she switched gears. She received an e-mail from Architects, Designers and Planners for Social Responsibility in Berkeley calling for ideas to redesign the state's juvenile correction facilities. Interested in the issue, she attended a conference in Sacramento sponsored by nonprofit groups pushing for change in the system.

Zanzot learned about problems in the Division of Juvenile Justice - formerly called the California Youth Authority. The division, in the newly formed Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, is undergoing reorganization as required by a court agreement and the Legislature after criticism of conditions at the youth prisons.

Last year, four wards died in these facilities. Recidivism has reached a rate of 90 percent. An atmosphere of intimidation, fear and violence pervades. And solitary confinement is used all too often.

The state Office of the Inspector General reported in January 2005 that some wards are confined to cells 23 hours per day with little access to education and counseling services.

“It's a despicable system. “The system is just not working,” Zanzot said.

In some ways, she said, the current system's failure is an architecture problem.

“You can't take care of people in a warehouse,” she said.

Reform plans call for an emphasis on smaller living units and treatment options for youth offenders. Older prisons built to house large populations would be replaced by new buildings.

But critics say the proposal recently submitted by the governor's administration doesn't go far enough to transform the system and takes too long to make changes. Some favor dismantling the system altogether in favor of establishing small, community-based rehabilitation centers. A few states, including Missouri and Texas, have done just that with great success, Zanzot says.

At UCD, Zanzot asked her students to develop designs for these types of centers, with the hope that California might opt for such an alternative system. And why not, she said, create the conceptual design on a Davis site?

The students created several different designs with similar elements. They incorporated living and dining areas, classrooms, libraries, security and space for recreation and gardening, which can be therapeutic for incarcerated youth. Some also proposed a transitional living apartment and other innovative ideas.

“A variety of issues such as overcrowding of wards, deteriorating buildings and dehumanizing environments have created strife for the staff and the wards in the correction system,” wrote students Josh Schwartz, Laura Potolsky, Zohreh Golshani and Brendan Ehlermann in their project. “ California juvenile rehabilitation centers need to be redesigned to ensure the success of our youths re-entering the community as balanced, healthy and contributing members.”

The project was a class assignment, but Zanzot hopes it goes further. She encouraged students to forward their designs to the governor and other political leaders working on the issue. Perhaps, she said, if the state decides to pursue this alternative approach, Davis could be the first city to house such a facility.

“If we're going to need these, we as citizens of Davis should make space for it,” Zanzot said. “It needs to find a home somewhere. Š We want to contribute to a new model.”

Zanzot said this is just the type of problem that a university should tackle. Perhaps the students' ideas will lead the state to take a bold new approach that would make California's system a model for others.

“I wanted to show the students that you can make contributions and change through design work,” Zanzot said.
- http://www.davisenterprise.com/articles/2005/12/21/news/010new2.txt

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