San Leandro – Nearly 200 people gathered at the new Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center to celebrate its opening and re-dedicate themselves to helping incarcerated youth get back on a path to making positive choices.

The $ 176 million Juvenile Justice Center is just up the hill from the old Juvenile Hall and has sweeping views of the San Francisco Bay.

“This new center will truly allow us to focus on rehabilitation,” said Alameda County Schools Superintendent Sheila Jordan. “All agencies involved have always worked well together to provide the best services to incarcerated youth. But the new center offers so many more resources and opportunities.”

The facility can accommodate 360 incarcerated youth and has a main command center that electronically controls all doors and where 127 video cameras are monitored.

The new Juvenile Justice Center is more spacious, with improved natural lighting and a grassy field, and is safer than the 1952 complex. A majority of the units are single-occupancy, and electronically secured corridors lead from bedrooms to courtrooms and other areas.

Another improvement is the medical unit, which includes mental and physical health as well as dentistry services. At the old Juvenile Hall, the youth were driven to the hospital, which takes away classroom time from youth housed there.

Although on the surface, the time lost from the classroom may not appear to be important for someone who is incarcerated, it is crucial. While the youth are indeed serving time for crimes they have committed, the Alameda County Office of Education (ACOE) provides a quality daily classroom curriculum.

Many students entering the Juvenile Justice Center have educational skills that are far below their grade level. Their incarceration provides ACOE with a unique opportunity to focus on helping them build their skills, gain confidence in their ability to succeed and prepare them to return to a productive life.

Adjacent to the area where youth are held is a building with five courtrooms, and offices for the public defender, district attorney and judges.

Outside and throughout the new Juvenile Justice Center are several public art projects, commissioned by the county and created after input from incarcerated youth. A 3-year grant will also bring more arts learning to the classrooms in the new center.

Youth will be transfered from the old facility to the new Juvenile Justice Center later this spring.