LA County agrees to speed up youth movement out of Los Padrinos

The county Board of Supervisors Wednesday adopted recommendations from the Probation Department designed to speed the movement of youth out of Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall after their court cases are concluded.

The primary purpose of Los Padrinos is to house accused juvenile offenders while their court cases are pending. Once their cases are finalized, the detainees are ordered by a judge into other facilities -- such as a county camp, home detention or a Secure Youth Treatment Facility.

In July, the board approved a motion by Supervisors Janice Hahn and Hilda Solis requesting a report by the Probation Department assessing the long wait times for youth being moved out of LPJH, which create a burden for the facility by increasing the population of detainees.

The report submitted on Sep. 23 found that youth ordered to be transferred to the county's Dorothy Kirby Center experienced the longest average wait times, remaining at Los Padrinos for more than two weeks.

The top reason, for about 56% of the cases, was that DKC was at capacity or there was a waitlist for a bed, according to the report. The second biggest reason was a delay in medical clearances.

For youth dispositioned to a probation camp, the top reason for delayed movement was medical clearances, followed by inadequate staffing at the Camp Headquarters Assessment Unit.

Similarly, delays for youth dispositioned to Community Based Placement were caused by challenges finding suitable placements.

On Wednesday, the board approved the following recommendations put forth in the report:

-- cross-training staff at the Camp Headquarters Assessment Unit to expedite the completion of clearances;

-- relocating one or more Camp Headquarters staff to LPJH to expedite the assessment process;

-- continuing the existing process of completing a portion of medical clearances once youth arrive at the Camp facility or Dorothy Kirby Center; and

-- developing a process for better engaging youth who refuse to participate in any portion of the clearance process.

The board also called for implementing a system for continuous monitoring and evaluation of the transfer process, with regular reports presented to the board.

Los Padrinos has been under scrutiny since it was reopened last year.

In February, the California Board of State and Community Corrections declared Los Padrinos and the Barry J. Nidorf Secure Youth Treatment Facility in Sylmar unsuitable to house youths, citing violations ranging from poor staffing levels to inadequate training, education programs, safety plans and disciplinary procedures. The findings were reversed in April after the board determined sufficient improvements were made to address the violations.

In the past year, the Board of Supervisors has also addressed issues with the facility including inadequate staffing, lack of programming for detained youth and long wait times for attorneys trying to meet with their youth clients.