BSCC Set to Close Barry J. Nidorf & Central Juvenile Halls

The California Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) will next meet on May 23, 2023, and will be taking up the Suitability Recommendation for Barry J. Nidorf and Central Juvenile Halls (as previously reported, the determination was deferred at the April meeting). Click here for the agenda. BSCC staff is recommending that the BSCC Board:

1. Reject the L.A. County Probation Department’s Corrective Action Plan (CAP) and Supplemental Corrective Action Plan (SCAP) as the CAP and SCAP do not demonstrate that the Probation Department can correct the items that have been found non-compliant within a reasonable period of time;
   

2. Find that Barry J. Nidorf Hall and Central Juvenile Hall are unsuitable; and
   

3. Issue a “Notice of Unsuitability” to the County requiring the closure of the two halls effective July 23, 2023.

The primary underlying basis for the closure recommendation is the well-publicized critical staffing shortages that Local 685 members working in the Halls live every day. The County’s failure to hire and retain DSB staff has placed members in this untenable position. The recommendation cites Department management at both facilities for not even having copies of the Corrective Action Plans, as well as the inability to run programs due to the lack of staffing. The Board of Supervisors’ inaction on hiring DSB staff has finally reached the breaking point. While your Executive Board has huge issues with the re-opening of Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall, it appears that this will be a lifeboat for the time being. It remains unclear if the SYTF minors can continue to be housed at Sylmar. We have much more information to gather about this latest development and the Department’s plan moving forward, but we wanted to get this information to you as soon as possible.