News Update

Los Angeles County juvenile hall deemed ‘unsuitable for the confinement of youth’ by state agency

A Los Angeles County juvenile hall has been found “unsuitable for the confinement of youth” by the California Board of State and Community Corrections.

After a site inspection of Central Juvenile Hall by the 13-person board, video footage revealed that the required safety checks by probation staff were not regularly completed.

“The most recent finding comes after more than 16 months of problems inspectors have uncovered at the facility,” the board said in a news release, which includes a brief timeline of the board’s interactions with the L.A. Probation Department and Central Juvenile Hall.

Compliance issues were first raised by the board in February 2021. What followed were reinspections, a requirement for the Los Angeles Probation Department to develop a corrective action plan, and a hasty transfer of approximately 140 youth shortly before a scheduled board inspection, as reported by the Los Angeles Times in March.

The L.A. Probation Department will be required to transfer youth from Central Juvenile Hall by Aug. 7, pending a reinspection of the site before July 28 after which the board will determine if the issues of noncompliance have been fixed.