Los Angeles County will once again have to figure out where to place over 300 young people in its custody — unless probation officials can pull off dramatic improvements at their long-troubled facilities in the next two months.
State regulators on Thursday voted to find both Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey and Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar “unsuitable” after the county repeatedly failed to correct problems inside, including paltry staffing and meager programming offerings.
It’s the latest embarrassment for the county in a years-long back-and-forth between the Board of State and Community Corrections, which has the power to inspect and shut down dangerous correctional facilities, and the county, whose juvenile halls have been plagued with violence and staffing issues for decades.
The vote sets the clock: The county has two months to either fix all the issues highlighted by regulators or get everyone out. Los Padrinos currently houses around 280 youths while Nidorf has about 50, according to the county’s Probation Oversight Commission.
The vote was a surprise to many advocates, who have criticized the board for being reluctant to crack down, and some in the county, who hoped the board would put off a vote.
Instead, top county officials, who had arrived in Sacramento to argue that the department had made great strides since the last inspection, were met with exasperation and disbelief.
“I’m literally at a loss for words,” said Board Chair Linda Penner, noting a “chasm” between the county’s positive update and the grim picture painted by her own staff.
“Let me help you out here, L.A.,” she continued. “If I have to be the decider of fact between the two of you, I’m going to lean heavily towards what our agency comes in with.”
All nine board members present voted to find the facilities unsuitable to house young people. Two board members — Scott Budnick and Angeles Zaragoza — had recused themselves.
The county’s Probation Department did not immediately respond to an inquiry about next steps.
Nine months ago, state inspectors ordered all youths out of Central Juvenile Hall in Boyle Heights and most youths out of Nidorf after the county had repeatedly failed to bring the halls into compliance with a long list of state regulations. The youths at Nidorf who were accused of more serious crimes stayed put because the state did not have jurisdiction over them at the time. The governor recently changed that policy in his budget.
The decision last year to vacate the two halls left the county scrambling to figure out where to put the 300 young people in its care. Officials decided to reopen Los Padrinos, a juvenile hall that had been closed in 2019 amid dwindling population and mounting safety concerns.
Since it opened, there have been fights, overdoses and an escape attempt. The department recently placed eight officers on leave after they allegedly stood by while a group of youths beat up another teen inside the hall.
The department’s ongoing staffing crisis persisted at the new facility. Deputy Probation Chief Kimberly Epps said Thursday that more than 1,400 probation staffers are on some form of protected leave — meaning they’re either not working or on light duty — out of 3,800 sworn personnel.
She said hundreds of employees simply don’t show up. Two people never showed up for their shift on Super Bowl Sunday, she said.
Sheila Williams, a senior manager with the county’s chief executive office, emphasized the county has been cracking down on no-shows, among other improvement efforts. She said more than 590 “notices of discipline” have been issued since October, 2022, to staff who were skipping shifts.
Supervisor Janice Hahn said in a statement after the meeting that she felt the department’s top brass was making “excuses” rather than “owning up to the unacceptable conditions.”
“I am concerned about the future of the Probation Department and whether they are capable of the reform that we all know needs to happen,” wrote Hahn, whose district includes Los Padrinos.
Supervisor Hilda Solis blamed the problems on long-term Probation Department leaders who have “abused their authority, turned a blind eye, and who created a culture that has enabled rank-and-file staff to operate with impunity.”
The five county supervisors had picked Chief Probation Officer Guillermo Viera Rosa, a former member of the Board of State and Community Corrections, for the job last year, partly with the hope that he could help bring the county back into the regulatory board’s good graces.
Instead, he is squarely in their cross-hairs. A plea he made to postpone the hearing was ignored and his argument that the agency was struggling with conflicting mandates made by the Department of Justice and the state regulatory board drew little support.
“If I were in his shoes, I would choose to comply with both, and I would figure it out,” said board member Brian Richart, the chief probation officer for El Dorado County.
Eduardo Mundo, chair of the county’s Probation Oversight Commission, said he wasn’t clear where the youth will go if the county can’t fix the problems in the two facilities in the next 60 days.
Mundo emphasized he was not speaking on behalf of the commission.
“I do have mixed emotions. Where do we go from here? Everyone wants them to close down, but what’s the alternative?” said Mundo, noting the county’s long-term plan to stop confining youths in juvenile halls had not yet been implemented. “What do you do with these kids?”
