More than a month after the state ordered the closure of Los Angeles County’s only juvenile detention facility due to staffing shortages, a judge has again spared immediate closure of the troubled facility.
Superior Court Judge Miguel Espinoza vacated a decision on whether to order the closure of Los Padrinos Juvenile Detention Center, upset by the lack of suitable alternatives for alternative destinations for the approximately 230 juveniles housed there. It seems so.
All youth at the Downey facility have active cases, including those related to murder and other violent crimes. The public defender’s office had proposed moving the youths to county “camps.” The camps are considered more stable than besieged venues, but are usually reserved for young people whose cases have been adjudicated.
“You’re asking the court to jump off a cliff into the experiments being done on these children,” Espinoza said during Friday’s court hearing.
The state Board of Supervisors in December after regulators repeatedly found staffing shortages were exposing youth indoors to dangerous conditions and uncertain access to classes, medical appointments and outdoor activities. The hall was ordered to be closed by the 12th. Officials with the Los Angeles County Probation Department, which operates the facility, say they don’t feel safe coming to work and that dangerous conditions are worsening.
Most young people are between 15 and 18 years old, but some are younger. There are nine 13-year-olds currently incarcerated, according to figures provided by the county’s watchdog agency, the Board of Probation.
The county has made clear it has no intention of closing the facility, arguing that doing so would only add to the chaos and do little to solve staffing issues at the root of the problem. The state closed two other halls in the county last year following similar staffing issues, and neighboring counties are now “uniformly refusing to house the youth at Los Padrinos,” according to legal filings. ”
The public defender’s office took the issue to a judge, arguing that the county is currently detaining its client in violation of state law.
“We’re dealing with kids. We don’t care what they’ve done. They’re kids,” Luis Rodriguez, director of the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Juvenile Division, told the judge Friday. spoke.
Frank Santoro of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office argued that the Probation Department has made necessary improvements and that it would be reckless to release young people indoors.
“No one should be released from juvenile detention,” he told the judge. “They’re doing their best.”
Probation Director Guillermo Vieira Rosa did not attend the hearing. Deputy Warden Kimberly Epps told the judge that recent staffing improvements have been made, including paying probation officers an hourly rate for the time they are on call and recruiting efforts that include Spotify ads and billboards. said.
That’s not enough, Rodriguez argued to the public defender’s office.
“I’m asking the court, please call me,” he said. “Let’s not kick cans down the road.”
The hearing continued until February 14th.
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