Los Angeles County’s troubled juvenile halls get reprieve, can remain open after improvements

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County’s troubled juvenile detention facilities, on the verge of shutting down over safety issues and other problems, can remain open, state regulators decided Thursday. Board chair Linda Penner said while the county had made some improvements, officials should not consider the outcome of the vote “mission accomplished,” the Southern California News Group reported. The Los Angeles County Probation Department, which oversees the juvenile halls, said it was stabilizing staffing levels and improving training procedures. Probation Chief Guillermo Viera Rosa said his department acknowledges “the ongoing concerns and acknowledge there’s still much more to be done.” The Peace and Justice Law Center, which advocates for prison reform, said the juvenile halls need “real fixes, not temporary Band-Aids.” Co-Execuitve Director Sean Garcia-Leys told the news group that the nonprofit plans to conduct a private audit to try to determine “why the board has reversed itself and decided a few weeks of compliance with standards outweigh the years of failure to meet minimum standards.” The board’s decision comes after California phased out its three remaining state-run youth prisons and shifting the responsibility to counties.