Special Series

The Darkest Part of the Tunnel

Nell Bernstein reports on how California’s youth prisons got shut down, and what comes next as county juvenile justice systems take over.

6/30/2023

California’s Once-Notorious Youth Prisons Shut Down Today, Accelerating a National Trend

Nell Bernstein

California’s youth prisons have closed their steel doors for good, marking the end of what was once the nation’s largest youth prison system. 

4/25/2023

The Untold Story of How a Stubborn Group of Parents Helped Shutter the Nation’s Largest Youth Prison System

Nell Bernstein

For years, a tireless group of parents trekked to the California state Capitol. Their goal: to shut down the California Youth Authority.

6/6/2023

‘The Darkest Part of the Tunnel’

Nell Bernstein

How a stack of letters from incarcerated kids spurred a decades-long fight to reform and ultimately abolish California's youth prison system.

6/13/2023

As California Shuts its Youth Prisons, Unlikely Critics Emerge

Nell Bernstein

Attorneys who helped usher the historic closure of California's youth prisons worry that kids will now be sent to even-worse local facilities.

8/31/2022

California’s Historic Shuttering of State-run Youth Prisons is Moving Forward, But Remains Far From its Progressive Vision

Nell Bernstein

As California's youth prisons close, each of the state's counties have submitted plans to house and rehabilitate youth closer to home.