What’s Happening At Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall?

Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey was on lockdown for the second Friday in a row last week. Officials said security was increased at the facility, which is home to some 270 pre-trial youth, after several young people allegedly attacked staff.

How we got here

The most recent incident at Los Padrinos comes less than two weeks after officials announced hundreds of young people had been moved out of two other facilities that a state board found unsuitable.

The L.A. County Probation Department said in a statement that at around 8 p.m. Friday, seven young people allegedly assaulted staff and broke out of a unit at the facility in Downey. One 18-year-old was able to break out of the facility and ran to the golf course next door. But the department said he was quickly apprehended. In total, 13 youths were involved, officials added.

The latest incident occurred just a week after a gun was found at the facility. The probation department says neither of the incidents led to serious injuries.

Why parents and advocates remain concerned

Meanwhile, parents and youth justice reform advocates continue to be concerned about conditions in L.A. County’s juvenile halls and camps.

Outside Los Padrinos in Downey last week, Adreena Rochall said she waited more than three hours to see her teenage son after the gun incident. She said no one from the department reached out to her to let her know about the lockdown from a couple weeks ago and she felt panicked.

“They are not checking anything properly, they are putting these kids' lives at risk. And now they’re getting desperate — the kids they all want to break out. And I don’t blame them. I don’t think anyone should blame any kid for wanting to break out of there. That’s how bad they’re mistreating them,” Rochall said.

Probation officials aren't talking

Guillermo Viera Rosa, the interim probation chief, has so far not been available for an interview.

He was tasked just a couple months ago with transferring some 270 young people from Central Juvenile Hall near downtown and in Barry J. Nydorf in Sylmar after the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) found those facilities unsuitable. That board cited concerns around searches, programming, safety checks and several other requirements.

A history of problems — old and new

Adreena Rochall (holding red sign) protested outside Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall on July 23.

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Robert Garrova / LAist

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At the BSCC hearing in May, Scott Budnick, a board member and founder of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, noted that 96% of staff called out on Mother’s Day.

“Because we don’t have the staffing, just this Sunday we couldn’t get the kids out to programs,” Budnick said.

Budnick added that Bryan Diaz — an 18-year-old who died of a drug overdose earlier this year at the Nidorf facility in Sylmar — was his mentee and “an incredible young man ... on a real path of change.”

Pointing out the staffing issues facing the department, Budnick added: “We have to get this right or there’s going to be another Bryan Diaz. There could be another Bryan Diaz any day now ... There’s nothing stopping it until we can get the right people to work.”

In May, the county probation department ordered some 3,000 of its sworn peace officers to work at least one shift a month in the juvenile halls, citing a staffing shortage “emergency.” In a statement released Saturday, Viera Rosa said that anytime a large number of people are moved to a new facility there is a potential for issues. Viera Rosa also said he wants the county to hire retired or off-duty peace officers in order to increase security outside the facility.

L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn said in an emailed statement that she wants answers. “I expect our interim Chief Probation Officer to get to the bottom of what went wrong and make assurances to the Board of Supervisors and the City of Downey that this is not going to happen again," Hahn said.

‘The urgency is now’

All of this comes as youth justice reform activists continue to push L.A. County to make big changes within the probation department.

Among other things, they want the county to release as many pre-trial incarcerated young people as soon as possible. They also want the county to move on a sweeping plan it approved three years ago that aims to replace locked facilities with "a home-like setting." And they’re critical of the probation department's efforts to get officers to show up to work.

Barbed wire lines the walls of Central Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles.

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Last week, youth activists halted the L.A. County Board of Supervisors meeting, chanting, "We are here to shut it down!"

“The urgency is now,” said Emilio Zapién with the nonprofit Youth Justice Coalition.

“We don’t want to see another young person pass away. We don’t want to see another young person overdose," he added, referring to Diaz's fatal drug overdose at the Nidorf facility.

“We’ve been coming here every Tuesday for years, giving public comment, meeting with your staff, making phone calls, engaging in the ways you ask us to and it hasn’t resulted in the protection of young people,” Zapién said.

Last week, L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón announced a felony charge against a supervising probation officer for alleged assault of a minor at a youth camp in Malibu.

Gascón said he found the conditions of confinement for juveniles in L.A. County “deeply concerning.”