Another Serious Breach Raises Alarms About Civilian Oversight at Juvenile Halls

Just one day after the Board of Supervisors’ representative told the Assembly Public Safety Committee that the Department of Youth Development (DYD) is better equipped than Probation to manage contracts and personnel, the Probation Department announced a deeply troubling incident:

A DYD employee, contracted through Apple One, was detained while attempting to bring a concealed weapon into Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall. Click here to read press release.

This incident follows closely on the heels of another serious breach:

Just two weeks ago, a civilian contract worker was arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle narcotics into the same facility. Click here to read press release.

These are not isolated events. They are the predictable result of allowing unvetted civilian contractors and private agencies to operate in secure youth facilities without the training, oversight, and accountability required for high-risk environments. The Board’s argument that DYD is better suited to take the lead in these facilities is not supported by the facts – and these incidents underscore that reality in the most alarming way.

A False Narrative Pushed Through Committee

At Tuesday’s hearing, Senator Menjivar once again launched a familiar campaign to discredit the Probation Department, as she has done consistently for the past two years. Her strategy relies on repetition of misleading and incomplete narratives, hoping that by saying it enough times, it will become accepted as truth. Unfortunately, several members of the Public Safety Committee echoed her rhetoric and ultimately voted to pass SB 357, which would strip oversight of juvenile halls and camps from trained peace officers and hand it to DYD, a brand-new department with just three years of experience, no legal authority to detain youth, and no evidence-based track record that relies on staffing agencies like Apple One to fill positions inside secure facilities.

One particularly troubling moment during the hearing came when Senator Menjivar referenced a text message she claimed to have received stating that a youth at Los Padrinos had overdosed. In fact, the incident was not drug-related. The youth had suffered a non-drug-related seizure. Misrepresenting medical emergencies on the record in a legislative hearing is not just irresponsible – it is dangerous.

We Acknowledge the Challenges – But Reject Reckless Solutions

Managing the youth in our care is complex, difficult, and sometimes volatile. We acknowledge those challenges and remain committed to continuous improvement and reform. But SB 357 is not the answer. It is a Trojan horse – marketed as reform, but designed to destabilize probation departments across California, strip away victim protections, and remove accountability by outsourcing critical public safety work to civilians and private contractors.

Senator Menjivar has shown herself to be a NON-CREDIBLE MESSENGER. The real crisis is not a lack of authority within Probation – it is a lack of honest leadership at the County level and an unwillingness to engage in constructive, fact-based reform.

We continue to stand firm:

Probation must lead. Public safety must come first. And SB 357 must be stopped.