Citing "widespread excessive use of physical restraint and hands-on confrontation" by staff members at the Arizona Boys Ranch, California officials announced Tuesday that the state will no longer pay to send troubled juveniles to that program.

The decision, effective Aug. 1, comes in the wake of a state probe into the March 2 death of 16-year-old Nicholaus Contreraz of Sacramento and a three-month investigation by The Bee that found little oversight of such out-of-state programs by California officials.

"If I had the authority to remove these kids, I would bring them home or place them in a safe facility today," Eloise Anderson, director of the state Department of Social Services, said in a statement released Tuesday night.

Contreraz died in a mountain Boys Ranch camp after being forced to exercise despite his claims that he was ill. An autopsy later showed that he had been suffering from a severe chest infection and had been sick for weeks.

Subsequent investigations turned up evidence that ranch staff members accused him of faking his illness.

"I think it's fantastic," Connie Woodward, Contreraz's grandmother, said of the decision. "If they aren't going to send them any more money, it means they aren't going to send them any more kids from California."

But a Boys Ranch spokesman said the move will harm the youths and California residents more than anyone else.

"It's a sad day for the kids of California," said Pat Patitucci, a Sacramento consultant for the program. "The effects are going to be devastating."

Patitucci said the removal of California youths means they may be returned to this state, where they either will be placed in group homes with little supervision or security, or in the much more rigid California Youth Authority.

Anderson noted that she does not have the authority to pull the juveniles out of the Arizona Boys Ranch, saying that only individual counties with youths there can withdraw them.

There are 223 California juveniles at the Arizona Boys Ranch, which is currently used by Los Angeles, Madera, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Sonoma, Sutter and Yolo counties.

As a result of the Contreraz death, the Legislature is considering a bill that would require out-of-state agencies such as the Arizona Boys Ranch to conform to California policies. Currently, the approximately 880 youths in 18 programs outside California may be subjected to rules and discipline not allowed in California group homes and juvenile camps, including the use of physical restraint.

The fact that California has allowed such discipline in other states -- but not within its own state lines -- has prompted an outcry, including a call for federal and state investigations by U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Pleasant Hill.

Miller, reached at home Tuesday night, applauded the move by the state, but said it is not enough.

"The action by the state is indicative of the problem," Miller said. "What the state is saying is, 'We're not prepared to put the public's money into this particular operation.'

"That's like your stockbroker calling you and saying, 'I'm going to sell my stock in this company. You do whatever you want.' It's not a great signal.' "

But a Wilson administration official said the move should not be construed as an assault on California's use of out-of-state programs. Rather, the official said, the move is aimed at one program that was found lacking because of the Contreraz death.

A summary of the state's investigation noted that Contreraz's death was "caused by prolonged and serious medical neglect and openly conducted abusive treatment."

"He suffered physical and psychological abuse and his personal rights were continually violated," the summary continued. "It is the finding of this report that both administration and staff knew or should have known about the abuse and neglect, which it failed to prevent or stop."

Boys Ranch President Bob Thomas has apologized for the death and said in an interview two weeks ago that it stemmed from a management breakdown at the program's Camp Mary Mullaney, an isolated facility in Arizona's Catalina Mountains. At least two of the camp's staff members were fired and four others suspended after the incident.

That camp has since been closed and Thomas has ordered extensive changes in its operations. But he insisted that the death was an aberration and not indicative of his program's philosophy.

Anderson's department suspended further placements of California youth there after the Contreraz death, and a 600-page report to be released todayis expected to buttress the state's decision to stop funding any further use of the facility.

The state currently pays a share of the costs of sending youths to the ranch, depending on the circumstances. In some cases, the approximate $3,600-per-month cost is split, with the federal government paying half, and the state paying 40 percent of the other half. County probation departments generally pay the balance.

Anderson said the state will continue its freeze on new placements to the ranch and, effective next month, will stop subsidizing the placements of youths in the program. After that, counties must decide whether to use the program and pay the balance or turn to other facilities.