A state board that oversees correctional facilities decided last Thursday to allow Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey to continue to house incarcerated young people; the Board of State and Community Corrections’s evaluation was that the juvenile hall had met the minimum requirements on staffing levels and safety checks. In making the decision, the Board of State and Community Corrections also found that the Los Angeles County Probation Department's efforts to meet use-of-force training and other requirements were improving. This follows the state regulatory body’s notice in February that the correctional hall would need to close if these demands weren’t met.

 

Today on AirTalk, we update listeners on how the juvenile hall got to this point with LAist mental health reporter Robert Garrova. We also hear from Jonathan Byrd, 2nd Vice President & Chief Steward for the L.A. County Deputy Probation Officers' Union, and Milinda Kakani, Youth Justice Director for Children's Defense Fund – California.

 

With files from LAist; read Robert’s latest story here.

 

We reached out to the L.A. County Probation Office, but they were unable to provide a representative to join the program.