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A.G. Seeks to Place Juvenile Halls Under Receivership
By a MetNews Staff Writer
The Office of Attorney General said yesterday it will be asking the Los Angeles Superior Court to place the county’s juvenile halls under state receivership.
It filed a declaration in support of an ex parte request—to be heard this morning by Judge Peter A. Hernandez—to file an over-size memorandum of points and authorities, a copy of which was attached as an exhibit. The 32-page memorandum, signed by Deputy Attorney General Christopher Medeiros, sets forth:
“In January 2021, following an extensive investigation by the Office of the Attorney General into conditions at the County of Los Angeles’s juvenile halls…the County agreed to be bound by a comprehensive stipulated judgment…aimed at remedying the unsafe and illegal conditions that the investigation revealed.”
It continues:
“Unfortunately, despite four and one half years of extensive efforts by the Monitor and the Attorney General’s office to compel the County’s compliance, a motion to enforce granted by the Court, two stipulated remedial amendment orders entered, multiple Board of State and Community Corrections…unsuitability findings, a recent court order to depopulate an unsuitable juvenile hall in lieu of shutdown, and 30 indicted Probation staff members later, the County has not done so.”
On March 3, it was announced that 30 detention services officers at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey had been charged by the Grand Jury of child endangerment/abuse, conspiracy, and battery. They are accused of orchestrating “gladiator fights” among youths in 2023.
‘No Choice’
Medeiros wrote that “[t]he dire state of conditions at the Juvenile Halls, combined with the County’s glacial progress towards complying with the Judgment, have left the Attorney General with no choice but to seek the ‘drastic but necessary remedy of a Receivership.’ ”
His memorandum goes on to say:
“Continuing to insist on the County itself bringing the Juvenile Halls into compliance would result only in infliction of further harm on youth and further waste of taxpayer dollars. In contrast, establishing a receivership for the Juvenile Halls, naming the Judgment’s existing Monitor—a nationally respected juvenile justice expert with a track record for reforming juvenile facilities—as Receiver, and granting the Receiver the authorities set forth in the proposed order will create a clear path for bringing the Juvenile Halls into compliance.”
It adds:
“And as concerns the harms and deprivations of rights experienced by youth prior to the establishment of the Receivership, the proposed order also provides for the creation of a youth-serving compensatory services fund that will help repair harm to youth who have been injured by the County’s past noncompliance.”
Dempsey’s Reports
The existing monitor is Michael Dempsey. According to his recent reports, insufficient staffing has led to “[y]outh idleness due to the lack of meaningful and consistent programming” which “has contributed to increased incidents of violence, use of force, and injuries to youth and staff.”
He found that “youth are often in their rooms for forty-five minutes up to two hours” for what he termed :operational or convenience purposes”; safety checks are inadequate resulting in such harms as overdosing; and “[s]taff continue to improperly use [pepper] spray as a first-line response, rather than attempting to de-escalate situations.”
Dempsey described conditions at the Los Padrinos facility as “shameful,” charging that “the facility and youth rooms are extremely dirty, unkept, and covered in graffiti” and the medical unit is “[c]ertainly not a sanitary medical environment.”
There is a failure, he declared, to block narcotics from being brought into the facilities.
“Of greatest concern,” the monitor said, “is the lack of urgency in developing and implementing a strong strategic plan to address the court-mandated directives outlined in the original Judgment and subsequent Amendments.”
Barger ‘Not Surprised’
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger commented that she is “not surprised” by the lawsuit, saying:
“In truth, this moment has been a long time coming. For years, I have voiced my concerns about the deepening dysfunction within the department—some of it fueled by the Board of Supervisors’ micromanagement. Today’s action is a direct repudiation of our Board’s ability to effectively oversee this department.
“While this request carries weight and must not be taken lightly, my focus remains unchanged: protecting and supporting the youth in our care. They deserve safe facilities, meaningful rehabilitative programs, and a system that offers them a path to growth and accountability.
“If a state receivership is what it takes to finally deliver those reforms and bring long overdue stability, then I welcome this intervention. The well-being of these young people must always come first.”
Supervisor Janice Hahn remarked:
“I wholeheartedly support receivership of our juvenile halls. We have spent years trying to improve conditions, exhausted every tool at the County level, and still, we are failing these young people. I stand ready to do everything I can to help receivership succeed and I urge our county leadership, our Chief Probation Officer, and our county lawyers to stay at the table to shape a process that helps ensure the kids who are not only in our custody but are in our care get the help and support they need.”
Horvath Comments
Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said:
“The County is backing SB 357 to give us the tools to fix this crisis—but much of the Probation Department staff, especially Probation union leadership, continue to stand in their own way. They’re blocking reform at every turn, and our young people are paying the price.
“In order for a receivership to have a chance at successful restructuring, the State must take on the challenge LA County has faced for decades—employment agreements and civil service procedures that have protected the rights of those who have harmed our young people, instead of the young people themselves.”
Los Angeles County Public Defender Ricardo D. García issued this statement:
“The protection of our youth is central to our wellbeing as a community. We believe in LA County’s vision of Youth Justice Reimagined and a system that focuses on healing trauma and ensuring a young person’s most basic needs are met. Any state intervention must prioritize the safety, well-being, and constitutional rights of every youth. Instead of further investment in a carceral system, state action should prioritize lasting transformation of how the criminal legal system treats its most vulnerable youth and continue to move away from punishment toward healing, education, and care, not cages.”
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