Probation Department

A shuttered juvenile detention camp in the far reaches of Los Angeles County’s Antelope Valley will become a live-in job training site for young adults who’ve been homeless, incarcerated or raised by the foster care system, under a $35 million plan approved last week by county supervisors.

Even as it faces a still-escalating coronavirus attack, Los Angeles County will reopen in-person family visits at four of its juvenile detention camps this weekend – an attempt to combat the heightened isolation young people locked up during the pandemic are experiencing.

Even as the coronavirus continues to grow in juvenile halls, a Los Angeles County judge on Tuesday denied a bid to release scores of incarcerated youth in the midst of the deadly pandemic. 

A scenario feared by parents and advocates for months came true Thursday, when two teenagers incarcerated in Los Angeles County juvenile halls were confirmed to be infected with coronavirus, just days after testing began for all new arrivals, officials said. 

Just one day after advocates for juveniles locked up in Los Angeles County during the coronavirus pandemic appealed to the California Supreme Court for relief, the state’s top prosecutor has reminded local officials they can act more swiftly to release prisoners in perilous conditions.

The Los Angeles County Probation Department announced on Tuesday that it would shutter all probation offices, close down juvenile detention facilities and consider ways to lower new entries in an effort to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Champions for a less punitive juvenile justice system in Los Angeles had high hopes for a pilot project that would transform an old juvenile detention camp into a voluntary vocational center for older youth.

This week, The Imprint is publishing a series of posts from leading candidates running to succeed Mark Ridley-Thomas on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Ridley-Thomas is stepping down because of term limits, and a full slate of candidates is running to take his place on the board, representing more than 2 million residents across parts of South, Central and West L.A.,

This week, The Imprint is publishing a series of posts from leading candidates running to succeed Mark Ridley-Thomas on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Ridley-Thomas is stepping down because of term limits, and a full slate of candidates is running to take his place on the board, representing more than 2 million residents across parts of South, Central and West L.A.,