By Jason Henry | Los Angeles Daily News
The Los Angeles County Probation Department does not have a contingency plan ready for the possibility the state will force it to close its two largest juvenile detention facilities on April 16, a situation branded as “irresponsible” by one oversight commissioner.
Los Angeles County Probation Chief Deputy Kimberly Epps announced the department’s stance Thursday, March 14, to the county’s Probation Oversight Commission, telling the commissioners the department has not “begun plans to relocate and we will not begin plans for a coordinated relocation” of the two juvenile facilities, Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downeyand the Barry J. Nidorf Secure Youth Treatment Facility in Sylmar.
“We plan to come into compliance in the facilities where we are,” Epps said. “We believe no one can care for our youth better than we can.”
Epps’ message mirrored what her boss, Chief Probation Officer Guillermo Viera Rosa, told the executive board of AFSCME Local 685, the union representing the department’s rank-and-file officers, during a Feb. 29 meeting, according to a memo to its members.
“We were informed that Chief Rosa does not plan to close any facilities and there is no plan for layoffs,” the executive board wrote. “The Chief explained to the Executive Board that the current placement and location of the juveniles in the institutions is the safest place for them to continue to receive care, services, protection and rehabilitation.”
The Board of State and Community Corrections, the regulatory agency overseeing California’s juvenile detention system, disagreed with that assessment in February when it declared both facilities “unsuitable” for the confinement of minors for failing to meet the state’s minimum standards. State law stipulates that any “unsuitable” facility must be emptied after 60 days and cannot be used until a reinspection confirms conditions have improved.
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