LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County’s troubled youth prisons, which are on the verge of closing due to safety concerns and other issues, can remain open, state regulators decided Thursday.
The Board of State and Community Corrections voted to lift the “ineligible” designation for Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar and Central Juvenile Hall in Boyle Heights.
Both facilities could have been forced to close on April 16 due to failed inspections over the past year.
The state board, which inspects juvenile detention centers, found last year that the county had failed to solve problems including inadequate security checkpoints, low staffing, use of force and a lack of recreation and exercise.
Board Chair Linda Penner said that while the county had made some improvements, officials should not consider the outcome of the vote as “mission accomplished,” the Southern California News Group reported.
“Your mission now is sustainability and sustainability. We need continued compliance,” Penner said.
Only six of the thirteen board members were in favor of keeping the lock-ups open. Three voted against, saying they did not believe Los Angeles County could maintain the facility improvements over the long term. The remaining four abstained or withdrew.
Board members warned the county that if future inspections result in an inappropriate designation, they would not hesitate to close the facilities.
The Los Angeles County Probation Department, which oversees juvenile detention facilities, said it was stabilizing staffing levels and improving training procedures. Probation Chief Guillermo Viera Rosa said his department “recognizes the ongoing concerns and acknowledges that much more needs to be done.”
The Peace and Justice Law Center, which advocates for prison reform, said juvenile halls need “real solutions, not temporary Band-Aids.” Co-Executive Director Sean Garcia-Leys told the newsgroup that the nonprofit plans to conduct a private audit to try to determine “why the board has reversed itself and decided that a few weeks of compliance with the standards outweighed than the years in which the minimum standards are not met. .”
The board’s decision comes after California phased out its three remaining state youth prisons and shifted responsibility to counties.
The shift to local control is the latest step in a long-term reform effort driven in part by a class-action lawsuit and incentives for counties to keep young people out of the state system. The state-run system has had a troubled history, marked by suicides and fights among prisoners.