By Nina Hall
SACRAMENTO, CA – The Assembly Public Safety committee last week approved a measure authored by Assemblymember Mark Stone (D-Santa Cruz), billed as a means to limit “endless” probation for youths—many of them youths of color—in California.
Assembly Bill 503, said Stone, is meant to limit the wardship probation, a type of probation which grants the court jurisdiction over the juvenile, to only a period of six months unless extensions are granted in what is deemed as in accordance with the “juvenile’s best interests.”
This bill will require any probation agencies to submit a detailed response providing clear proof why a youth’s probation should extend past the six-month point, which will essentially add more safeguards to the juvenile probation process.
“Probation is the most common court ordered outcome imposed on youth in juvenile court in California. In 2018, more than half of youth (60 percent) who were home on probation were placed on probation for misdemeanors or status offenses. Despite that, youth on probation in California are on probation for an average of almost two years,” said Stone
Proponents of the bill note how probation disproportionately affects youth of color in California, noting, “In 2019, nearly 20,000 youth in California were placed on probation (and) the 
vast majority (87 percent) were youth of color. Black youth were nearly nine times more likely than white youth to be placed on wardship probation and Latino youth were more than two times as likely.”
AB 503 is also expected to help reduce probation sentences awarded juveniles in California, particularly those who have been convicted of misdemeanor offenses. In 2018 alone, more than half of California’s youth probation population was serving for misdemeanor offenses.
Youth of color are typically kept on probation longer than their white counterparts, said Stone, adding, “Data provided by California counties revealed that, on average, white youth are kept on probation for less than 20 months, while Black youth are on probation for nearly 21 months and Latino youth for more than 25 months.”
“The status quo is unacceptable.” Stone said, “By establishing these research-based standards in statute, AB 503 will ensure that when a young person is placed on probation they have meaningful goals to work toward, and a chance to get off probation in six months if they are ready.”
Exceptions will only be granted if the court deems a longer sentence is in the juvenile’s best interest. An examination of evidence would be necessary in order to determine whether to extend probation or not, Stone explained.
Nina Hall is a sophomore from Colorado at Santa Clara University, studying English and Sociology.
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