Calling Los Angeles County’s juvenile halls “appalling,” state Attorney General Rob Bonta said on Wednesday, April 12, his office has filed court papers seeking to force the county to immediately remedy “illegal and unsafe” conditions.
The motion, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, wants the county to comply with a 2021 judgment ordering improvements at the juvenile halls, including boosting staffing levels and ensuring that youth in the county’s care are taken to school and medical appointments.
“The conditions within the juvenile detention centers in Los Angeles County are appalling,” Bonta said in a statement. “Every child in our state is entitled to a safe, home-like environment. For justice-involved youth in particular, it is imperative that our institutions give them every opportunity for rehabilitation, growth, and healing. We are responsible for protecting justice-involved youth and ensuring they receive (the) educational, health, and supportive services necessary to stop the cycle of incarceration.”
The county Board of Supervisors has been struggling to overhaul the troubled juvenile justice system as it prepares to assume responsibility for youth being transferred to counties from the state’s soon-to-close Juvenile Justice facilities.
A year ago, about 140 juvenile detainees were hastily transferred from Central Juvenile Hall in Lincoln Heights to the Barry J. Nidorf facility in Sylmar — a move that the county inspector general later concluded was orchestrated to avert a state inspection that appeared likely to fail.
Late last year, nearly 300 people filed a lawsuit alleging they were sexually assaulted, harassed and abused by county probation and detention officers while at juvenile facilities dating back to the 1970s.
In March, the supervisors fired Probation Department Chief Adofo Gonzales, with Chairwoman Janice Hahn noting that the juvenile halls “are in crisis.”
Responding to Bonta’s action on Wednesday, the…
Read the full article here
