State Orders Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall To Shut Down In 60 Days If Safety And Staffing Problems Persist

A state board that oversees correctional facilities voted Thursday to order Los Angeles County to shut down Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey if the county can't comply with state requirements related to safety, staffing and other matters.

The vote by the Board of State and Community Corrections comes less than a year after L.A. county was forced to move hundreds of incarcerated youths out of two facilities the board deemed unsuitable and into Los Padrinos.

Those facilities — Barry J. Nidorf in Sylmar and Central Juvenile Hall near downtown L.A. — had been plagued by problems for years, including not enough staffing, which authorities said affected supervision, programming and other daily operations.

Inspectors with the board presented a list of roughly a dozen concerns about Los Padrinos, which recent inspections found was out-of-compliance on staffing requirements and had failed conduct safety checks at the proper times, as well as use-of-force training.

L.A. County will now have roughly 60 days to move about 300 youth out of Los Padrinos and 50 out of Nidorf’s Secure Youth Treatment Facility, which was also found unsuitable Thursday.

In a statement released after the meeting, county authorities said they planned to use the 60-day period to "take all necessary steps" to meet the state's requirements.

"We understand and share the frustration expressed by the Board of State and Community Corrections about the longstanding issues at Barry J. Nidorf and Los Padrinos juvenile halls," the statement reads. "Our highest priorities are ensuring the safety of our communities and the young people in our care. Unfortunately, today’s decision places the County in the position of continuing to conduct triage rather than to press forward with the reforms currently underway to achieve lasting change." 

The county said it would push the Probation Department to use every tool at its disposal to avoid closing Los Padrinos, but doing so would "only make the current situation more challenging for our youth in detention."

The statement did not clarify how it would make the situation more challenging.

During hours of public comment at the board meeting Thursday, several speakers accused the county of shuffling young people around instead of addressing what they see as systemic problems within L.A. County’s Probation Department. The department has been plagued with staffing issues, including sworn officers regularly not showing up for their shifts, according to probation officials and juvenile justice reform advocates.

Dominique Davis with the Young Women’s Freedom Center urged the board to find both facilities unsuitable to hold young people.

“I’ve seen youths’ mental, physical and emotional well-being deteriorate as a result of the incarceration in these facilities,” Davis said.

Olivia Shields, who is from the Urban Peace Institute, instead urged local leaders to invest in alternatives to incarceration programs as imagined under the county's new Department of Youth Development

"There is no reconstructing probation because their fundamental culture of punishment and harm is not safe," Shields said.

How we got here

In May 2023, the state board gave L.A. County 60 days to transfer nearly 300 incarcerated youths to Los Padrinos. The board said some youths at the Barry J. Nidorf and Central juvenile halls reported they were not let out of their rooms at night and had to “urinate in a receptacle.”

During board hearings, commenters from the public reported seeing young people languishing at Nidorf, sitting for hours a day in common rooms with nothing to do but watch television. Parents have said staffing issues at the county Probation Department have kept some youths from attending school — as required by state law.

Last year, Bryan Diaz, 18, died of an apparent drug overdose at Nidorf Hall.

Probation Department authorities said last summer that they had completed the move to Los Padrinos ahead of the deadline. In a statement released in July, interim Probation Chief Guillermo Viera Rosa said the county had gone “from Mission Impossible to mission accomplished.”

But some youth justice advocates and family members of young people held at the old facilities expressed skepticism that the move to the new one would address underlying problems.

Some evidence appeared to support those concerns. Just days after the transfer to Los Padrinos, the facility was locked down when a gun was found on the premises. According to department, the firearm was found in “an area only accessible to staff.”

Citing anonymous sources, The L.A. Times reported that the firearm was found in a location that youth could access.

No one was injured.

Last month, the Probation Department announced new security measures at Los Padrinos, including installing razor wire and bringing back the use of pepper spray. The department also announced that eight peace officers had been placed on leave because of alleged misconduct stemming from a “significant incident.”

The department did not immediately respond to a request from LAist for an update on the officers on leave.

Most recent findings

During its most recent inspections, the Board of State and Community Corrections found Los Padrinos was out of compliance with 11 state requirements, including use-of-force training, staffing, searches and youth programming.

Recent inspections found that safety checks at Los Padrinos “are not being conducted within 15 minutes of one another and are not random and varied.” The board also said there weren't enough recreational activities available to youths.

“Nothing changed,” said parent Adreena Rochall in an interview. Rochall has spoken out repeatedly about conditions at Los Padrinos since her son was transferred there last year.

“They’re really affecting the kids. and they’re the ones that gotta go through this,” she said.

In a statement last week, the Probation Department said it was facing “significant challenges” in improving facilities.

Viera Rosa, the interim probation chief, said the department remained dedicated to getting into compliance with state requirements but needed time to do so.

“To effectuate meaningful change, it is imperative to address deeply ingrained practices and foster a cultural shift that prioritizes rehabilitation, support, and the well-being of the young individuals in our care,” Viera Rosa said in an email to LAist.

Responding last week to the board's findings, L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn, whose district includes Los Padrinos, pledged to put every available county resource into getting facilities into compliance.

Hahn also expressed frustration that the Probation Department had not made more progress.

"To say I am disappointed is an understatement,” she said.