LA County Probation vows to keep Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall open despite state order to shut down

Los Angeles County authorities said Thursday that they had no intention of meeting a deadline to move more than 260 people out of a juvenile hall in Downey and instead would appeal a state board’s findings that the facility was “unsuitable” to house youth.

On the day of the deadline, the county Probation Department released a statement saying it had asked the Board of State and Community Corrections to rescind its findings from previous inspections of the facility.

The board found that the department repeatedly failed to meet minimum staffing requirements at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall, which meant the young people held there were being confined in their rooms for too long and missing medical appointments.

“While we fully agree with safety and security standards, we disagree with [the board's] application of regulations and overall findings, particularly around staffing ratios,” the Probation Department said in the statement. “The department fully intends to keep Los Padrinos open and operational.”

Findings from inspections

In October, the Board of State and Community Corrections notified probation authorities that Los Padrinos wasn’t complying with minimum staffing requirements.

“The continued lack of staffing continues to negatively impact delivery of required services and compliance with additional regulations, including education, outdoor recreation, youth being confined in rooms, and youth missing medical appointments,” the letter from the board to Probation Chief Guillermo Viera Rosa stated.

The board set a Dec. 12 deadline for L.A. County to vacate Los Padrinos, but the Probation Department did not reveal any plans for how to accomplish that. In a recent letter to Probation, the board said a re-inspection of Los Padrinos last week found that of 45 shifts reviewed, 24% did not meet the department’s required minimum staffing.

“We found that the current staffing numbers do not allow for all required activities, operations, programs and facility functions, and to ensure the safety of youth and staff,” the letter states.

In a letter sent to the state board this week, county attorney Esteban Rodriguez wrote that the board had “applied incorrect standards to determine whether Los Padrinos had adequate staffing,” and called for a stay of enforcement.

The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday that Chief Deputy Probation Officer Kimberly Epps was heard on a leaked audio recording, telling a group of deputies: “We’re not moving.”

That defiance drew the ire of some members of the county’s Probation Oversight Commission during a Thursday meeting.

“This is appalling,” Commissioner Brooke Harris said during the meeting. Directing her comments to Epps: “What blows my mind is what we are talking about is minimum standards... The courts are going to be detaining kids in unlawful facilities and you’re not taking any responsibility.”

Viera Rosa did not attend the oversight commission meeting. Earlier this week, he announced he would be staying on in his role after initially notifying the Board of Supervisors that he would leave the department by the end of the year.

What’s next?

The state board has called a special meeting next Wednesday to discuss the situation but it’s unclear what enforcement actions, if any, the body can take.

In a statement to LAist on Thursday, L.A. County Public Defender Ricardo Garcia called for the immediate release of their clients to their families or to other kinds of housing unlike a jail or prison.

“The determination that Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall is unsuitable underscores a staggering failure to provide the safe and supportive environment that our youth deserve,” Garcia said.

Vicky Waters, communications director for the Probation Department, said there are currently 261 youth housed at Los Padrinos — where many youth in the criminal justice system are held while their cases are pending — and many cannot “easily be released or transferred.” Waters said more than 30% face murder and attempted murder offenses.

Supervisor Janice Hahn, whose district includes Los Padrinos, said in a statement Thursday that moving youths out of the facility is a problem because there’s nowhere else to house them.

“Closing Los Padrinos would mean many of them would likely be sent to county jail which is the worst case scenario,” Hahn said.

She added that the county was facing a staffing problem, not a facility problem and called on all probation officers to show up to their assigned shifts.

“This is an emergency,” she said.

Justice reform advocates push for 'state of emergency'

Earlier this week, justice reform advocates with the Youth Justice Coalition and other local groups gathered outside a county meeting. They called on the Board of Supervisors to declare a state of emergency and immediately release a portion of incarcerated youth.

Floyd Lee Hardge, an advocate with the Youth Justice Coalition, said he was held at Los Padrinos for about two years before it closed in 2019 and was later reopened. He said, back then, he felt like Probation was not meeting some of his most basic needs.

“Like a phone call to my mom, just to talk to my mom. Or at least to see outside,” he said.

Hardge said he wants the county to invest in alternatives to incarceration like Youth Justice Coalition’s FREE LA High School, where he’s currently finishing his high school diploma.

He said he was pleased to see the state board not backing down on ongoing issues at Los Padrinos.

“It feels good that a lot of work that we’ve been doing is paying off... A lot of things still hasn’t been changed but we’re still fighting for what we need,” Hardge said.

The Board of State and Community Corrections agenda for next week’s meeting is available on its website.