California Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday said he plans to end the state's current juvenile justice system "as we know it."
Speaking to reporters following his first budget presentation, the Governor said, "that includes shifting the state's few remaining juvenile justice facilities from the corrections department to the Health and Human Services Agency."
Newsom did not provide details in his budget proposal.
The chief of state's probation officers association says the proposal could threaten reforms which have been made to the juvenile justice system over the last decade.
Newsom says he is making literacy and tattoo removal programs a priority to help adult ex-convicts get jobs.
His budget projects about 78 million dollars in savings from a 2014 ballot initiative that reduced criminal penalties and requires that the savings be spent on rehabilitation programs. That's up nearly 14 million dollars over last year.
Newsom is also proposing to expand Medi-Cal coverage to immigrants who are young adults and don not have legal status in the United States.
The proposed budget released Thursday says immigrants up to age 25 would be potentially eligible for the coverage.
It includes $260 million for the expansion, which would take effect no sooner than July.In California, people who can't prove they're legally in the United States age out of full-scope Medi-Cal coverage when they turn 19.