Youth Center

The Probation Department’s Youth Center is a low-security, coeducational, residential treatment facility located in East Salinas. It is one of only a few secured juvenile treatment centers in the state.

The Youth Center is comprised of three dormitories with a total capacity of 85 residents. Probation staff, Behavioral Health therapists and teachers from the County Office of Education work cooperatively and collaboratively with outside providers in a team approach that works with residents and their parents and/or guardians to understand and address the causation of the residents’ delinquent behavior, gang involvement, or drug and alcohol addictions.

The Youth Center’s therapeutic environment is designed to work to help residents develop insight into their personal situations, to instill impulse control by improving personal coping mechanisms, and to encourage pro-social attitudes and behaviors.

Santa Lucia Treatment Center

The Santa Lucia Program houses female residents who have a dual diagnosis of substance abuse and mental health disorders. Santa Lucia is a 24-hour, non-medical, Day Treatment Intensive (DTI) program with an average length of stay of nine to 12months. Residents are treated for substance abuse issues, psychiatric disorders, and behavioral impairments. Santa Lucia residents often graduate to transitional programs, such as Job Corps or local rehabilitation residential programs.

Gavilan Bay and Pinnacles Bay

Male residents at the Youth Center are housed in Gavilan Bay and Pinnacles Bay for a twelve-month treatment program. For the first nine months residents generally live at the Center. The latter stages of the program involve graduation from the Center followed by three months of supervised aftercare as residents reunify with their families and reintegrate back into their respective communities. In addition to alcohol and substance abuse treatment, residents also take classes in pregnancy prevention, young fatherhood, and gang-involvement topics. Family therapy is a cornerstone of the treatment process; therefore, the Youth Center’s goal is to repair and/or enhance the original family structure.

Silver Star Gang Prevention and Intervention (SSGPI)

In 2005, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) – Administration for Children and Families (ACF) awarded the Probation Department $1,298,600 to implement a multi-agency collaborative prevention and early intervention program to prevent and reduce gang association, membership, and activities among youth in Monterey County.

The grant provides funding for the Silver Star Gang Prevention and Intervention (SSGPI). As the lead agency and fiscal agent, the Probation Department, in collaboration with community-based agencies: the Monterey County District Attorney, the Department of Health/Behavioral Health, the Department of Social and Employment Services/ Office for Employment Training, the Monterey County Office of Education, the Second Chance Youth Program, Partners for Peace and Community Human Services, formed the Silver Star Resource Center. The Silver Star Resource Center offers a “one stop shop” for youth’s age 15½ to 18 that are vulnerable to gang involvement, substance abuse, truancy, unemployment, and family conflict.

The Silver Star Resource Center and its collaborative are dedicated to working together to provide services for youth and their families by increasing opportunities for academic achievement, employment skills development, and improvement of overall health and welfare.

Rancho Cielo

The Rancho Cielo facility, located off of Old Stage Road in Salinas, California, operates the Silver Star Youth Program. Silver Star offers a variety of prevention and early intervention programs for at-risk youth age 15½ through 18 and their families.

In collaboration with community-based organizations, the Silver Star Youth Program is funded by the Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act (JJCPA), for local law enforcement programs and related services under the supervision of the Probation Department.

The program consists of a comprehensive set of services with the primary goal of improving the health and wellbeing of youth by reducing risk factors and providing an environment rich in academic, health, recreational, and job preparation opportunities. The programs and services include individual and family support systems that provide alternatives to crime. Some of the services offered include:

Social and mental health related support services

Repeat Offender Prevention Program (ROPP)

The Repeat Offender Prevention Program is a multi-disciplinary collaboration with community-based programs that provides comprehensive family services, individual treatment, health education, academic instruction, and intensive supervision to first time wards of the juvenile court age 13 through 15½ years and their families. Its partners and services include: