State Regulators Clear Los Angeles County Juvenile Facilities to Keep Operating

Los Angeles County’s juvenile detention system avoided a major setback Thursday when state regulators reversed an earlier finding and found that two County facilities are again suitable to house youth offenders.

The decision by the California Board of State and Community Corrections averted a potentially disastrous closure of the facilities — Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey and the Barry J. Nidorf Secure Youth Treatment Facility in Sylmar.

The board ruled in February that the two facilities were “unsuitable” to house youth detainees. The California Board of State and Community Corrections’ decision found the Nidorf Secure Youth Treatment Facility out of compliance with state regulations pertaining to staffing levels, training, use of force training, disciplinary procedures, and youth access to programs and recreation.

Los Padrinos was found to have significantly more issues, with noncompliance found in staffing levels, fire safety plans, safety checks, room confinement procedures, use of force training, searches, education programs, youth access to programs and recreation, and disciplinary procedures.

After two months of scrambling to make operational changes, including a reassignment of many probation officers out of field duty and into detention roles, both facilities passed recent state inspections, leading to Thursday’s decision. Had the board not reversed the earlier “unsuitable” finding, both facilities would have been forced to close by early next week. The County had no contingency plans in place for housing the youth if the ruling had stood.

“Under the Board of Supervisors’ direction, the Probation Department has made great strides addressing deficiencies at facilities by increasing and stabilizing staff levels, providing hundreds of hours of additional training, and working closely with California Board of State and Community Corrections staff to tighten procedures and protocols,” County Probation Department Chief Guillermo Viera Rosa said in a statement. “While today’s California Board of State and Community Corrections decision marks a milestone in that effort, we note the ongoing concerns and acknowledge there’s still much more to be done.”

The County remains fully committed to transforming its juvenile justice facilities into the safest, most nurturing environments possible for the youth committed to our care.

Los Padrinos houses pre-disposition youth detainees awaiting resolution of their court cases, while the Nidorf Secure Youth Treatment Facility holds post-disposition youth offenders who have already been convicted.

The County hastily reopened Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall last year and transferred all pre-disposition youth to the facility, moving them away from Nidorf Hall in Sylmar and Central Juvenile Hall in Lincoln Heights, which were both declared unsuitable and ordered to close by the California Board of State and Community Corrections.

At that time, the California Board of State and Community Corrections did not have jurisdiction over the Nidorf Secure Youth Treatment Facility for post-disposition youth, but it was granted that authority by the state later in the year.

County Supervisor Kathryn Barger hailed Thursday’s decision, but noted that more needs to be done to improve the juvenile facilities.

“Today’s suitability finding is a testament to the hard work that our County’s Probation Department, under new leadership, has put in to improve the care youth are receiving at two challenging sites,” Barger said in a statement. “The work is far from over, but we are headed in the right direction.”

“I will continue closely tracking our Probation Department’s focus on sustaining and enhancing this progress and implementation. I fully support a continued focus on staffing at the appropriate levels — this is the heart of what will make improvements permanent. Keeping the youth in our care and staff safe is my top priority for the Department.”

The Probation Department has been under fire for years over the operation of juvenile detention facilities.

During February’s California Board of State and Community Corrections meeting, County Probation Department Deputy Chief Kimberly Epps pleaded the agency’s case, insisting improvements had been made to address all of the board’s areas of concern, and claiming in some instances the issue was one of documentation, rather than actual poor practices.

She conceded, however, that there has been a long history of shortcomings by the agency, noting at one point that “we understand people are tired of seeing us” before the California Board of State and Community Corrections.

“We know we are bankrupt in credibility,” Epps said at another point, but she insisted that the Department’s new leadership is committed to improvement and change.

Not long after it opened last year, Los Padrinos was quickly plagued with problems. The facility experienced a pair of escapes, although both detainees were quickly re-apprehended. In January, eight probation officers were placed on leave for a “significant incident” involving detainees. The Los Angeles Times reported that the officers stood idly by while a teen detainee was beaten by a group of other youths.

Several community members who spoke at February’s California Board of State and Community Corrections meeting alleged that probation officers would stage “gladiator fights” among youth detainees.

“Every day a young person is in the facility, they are in danger,” one speaker told the board.

One probation officer, however, decried suggestions that the staff is responsible for issues at the facilities, noting that some of the youth “are in there for some heinous crimes,” including murder. She said probation officers in the facilities are the ones “being spit on and getting feces thrown at us.”

“I’m sick and tired of everyone coming after us when it’s our management that’s the problem,” she said.