One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
LA County reveals plan to move youths out of troubled Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall
Aerial view of Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey Thursday, June 29, 2023.
(
Allen J. Schaben
/
Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
)
The Los Angeles County Probation Department on Friday submitted a proposed plan to move dozens of young people out of the troubled Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey in keeping with a state finding that it is unsuitable to house youths.
By filing the plan with the Superior Court, the county has met a deadline set by Judge Miguel Espinoza.
The plan
The proposal calls for moving youths to camps and other facilities spread across the county, including Camp Joseph Paige in La Verne and Camp Vernon Kilpatrick in Malibu. Camp Kilpatrick underwent a $48 million rebuild that was completed in 2017. The revamped “therapeutic environment” includes a basketball court, library and pool.
The plan would move about 100 youths out of Los Padrinos, which currently has a population of about 270.
Background
The move by the Probation Department comes about three weeks after the Board of State and Community Corrections affirmed its finding that the facility was “unsuitable” to house youth.
Sponsored message
The board found last year that L.A. County had failed to meet minimum staffing requirements at Los Padrinos, and that young people held there were being confined in their rooms for too long and missing medical appointments.
What’s next?
The Probation Department said it plans to implement the plan over the next 30 days. The Board of State and Community Corrections would need to inspect the proposed facilities.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
