The Board of State and Community Corrections, or BSCC, has deemed two juvenile halls in Los Angeles County unsuitable. The agency has ordered 300 youths to be moved, as the two halls work to become compliant.
This comes after many instances of reported abuse and poor conditions at the facilities.
The BSCC voted to determine that both the Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar and Central Juvenile Hall in Boyle Heights are unsuitable for housing youth.
The Los Angeles County Department of Corrections was given 60 days to relocate the nearly 300 youth awaiting to be sentenced.
In May, a teenager at the Nidorf facility died of an overdose. The juvenile hall is in Supervisor Kathryn Barger’s district, who joined “Inside the Issues” host Alex Cohen to talk about the troubled facility.
The county is planning to renovate and reopen the Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in order to accommodate the needed move.
“There is no question up until this point it’s been an epic fail. We can do better, and we will do better,” Barger said.
The Board of Supervisors appointed Guillermo Viera Rosa as the interim probation officer for the county. Barger adds he has been reporting to the Board of Supervisors on a weekly basis to address the poor conditions and abuse that happened at the detention centers.
“We have to put programs in place, we have to have a setting that’s going to be conducive to rehabilitation,” Barger said.
Barger said the key to doing better is implementing programs that help those who are currently incarcerated to help prevent recidivism once they are released.
“It’s not a question of if they’re going to get out, it’s when they’re going to get out,” Barger said. “And are they going to get out angry and feel like the system has let them down or are they going to get out with the tools they need to rebuild their lives,” Barger said.
Another issue Barger and the Board of Supervisors are dealing with is Gov. Gavin Newsom’s CARE Court plan to address homelessness and mental health. Los Angeles is one of the first counties in the state to implement the program.
“We know that it’s going to be a challenge, but I have to say if we don’t try now, when? And when we see the number of people [who] are languishing on our streets with mental health issues, it breaks my heart,” Barger said.
Barger said the biggest challenge in implementing the program is dealing with the shortage of mental health clinicians and psychologists who can be part of the wraparound services that CARE Court is looking to provide.
The county is now leading a recruitment effort to help get more mental health clinicians on board. Part of their recruitment effort is going to be providing adequate vacation times and breaks to help the workers not feel burnt out from the job.
“It’s a very tough time, but I’m confident we can get across the finish line,” Barger said.
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