Second Chances Need Structure: Safe Staffing Makes Rehabilitation Possible

Rehabilitation is central to juvenile justice. But a release date, weekend pass, or completed program is not a rehabilitation plan. Young people have the best chance to succeed when safe facilities, consistent supervision, trained officers, treatment, education, family guidance, community support, and pathways to employment work together. Los Angeles County's staffing crisis weakens every part of that system, both inside the institutions and after a young person returns home.

LOCAL 685'S BOTTOM LINE  The County must hire enough officers to staff juvenile facilities safely and replace the officers pulled from field offices. Shuffling an inadequate workforce between institutions and the community weakens both.

Fentanyl Case Shows Why Rehabilitation Requires Safe, Staffed Facilities

A young man convicted of killing rapper Pop Smoke received an additional four-year sentence after pleading no contest to distributing fentanyl inside Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall. Deijae Devon Jester, 21, was serving a seven-year juvenile sentence for the 2020 murder when authorities say his mother tried to pass him fentanyl pills during a December 2025 visit. CBS Los Angeles reported that Jester's mother also faces charges and remains at large. The incident shows why safety and rehabilitation are inseparable: young people cannot focus on change where drugs, violence, or instability take hold.

Preventing contraband requires more than a rule on paper. It requires enough trained officers to supervise visits, conduct appropriate searches, observe behavior, and respond quickly. It also requires substance-use treatment, strong case planning, and clear guidance for parents and caregivers. When staffing is thin, security suffers, and officers lose the time needed to build the relationships that support rehabilitation.

SAFE FACILITIES REQUIRE SAFE STAFFING  The County must hire enough permanent officers to cover every required post, supervise visits, prevent contraband, and sustain rehabilitative programming. It cannot fill institutional gaps by draining already hollowed-out field offices.

Read more here:  Pop Smoke's killer sentenced for smuggling drugs in LA County juvenile facility - CBS Los Angeles 

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Second Chances Require a Complete Reentry Plan

The fentanyl-smuggling case is not the only recent incident raising difficult questions. Juvenile Hall personnel described three young adults who received release opportunities or temporary passes after participating in rehabilitative programs. Those opportunities were followed by alleged violence, rearrest, or death. These cases do not discredit rehabilitation. They show why every transition needs adequate staffing, careful preparation, and sustained support.

According to probation sources, all three young adults had previously been released following recommendations involving the Probation Oversight Commission (POC) and the Board of Supervisors (BOS). Each reportedly violated release terms, returned to the Secure Youth Treatment Facility (SYTF) in Sylmar, and later received another release opportunity.

Sources identified all three as having gang affiliations. Each had participated in rehabilitation and anti-recidivism programs intended to help young people change their behavior and return successfully to the community. Program participation matters, but it is only one part of the work. Lasting progress also requires stable housing, supportive adults, a school or job plan, access to treatment, and consistent supervision after release.

Repeated Release Followed by a Deadly Shooting

The first young adult's original case involved a murder charge. After he returned to custody for violating an earlier release, officials placed him in a step-down program designed to provide a gradual transition from confinement to the community.

Following what sources described as his third release, he allegedly returned to an area associated with gang activity. He was later accused of participating in a shooting that wounded five people and killed one. He was arrested and is being held in Los Angeles County jail.

A step-down placement must be more than a change of location. It should include an individualized safety plan, frequent officer contact, stable housing, structured daily activity, credible mentors, education or employment, and a rapid response to warning signs.

FIELD STAFFING CONNECTION  Reentry plans work only when officers can make home visits, confirm housing, coordinate treatment and employment, and act on warning signs. The County must restore field offices and manageable caseloads by returning deployed or reassigned officers to the field.

Weekend Pass Ends in a Young Father's Death

The second case involved a 20-year-old father who had previously been released, violated the conditions of that release, and returned to the Sylmar facility.

He later received a weekend pass to spend time outside the facility and reconnect with his family. After he arrived in North Hollywood to visit his girlfriend, however, he was shot and killed.

His death reminds us that reentry can return a young person to the same conflicts, threats, and pressures that existed before confinement. Family reconnection can support rehabilitation, but families may need guidance, safety planning, and a reliable contact when concerns arise.

Temporary passes can rebuild healthy family relationships and test readiness for release. To work as intended, they need careful risk assessments, coordination with parents or caregivers, clear expectations, transportation plans, safety plans, and enough probation staff to follow up before, during, and after the pass.

FAMILY AND COMMUNITY CONNECTION  Parents, caregivers, mentors, and service providers need a probation officer they can reach. Restored field staffing makes coordinated safety plans, family guidance, and early intervention possible.

Second Release Followed by Murder and Attempted-Murder Charges

The third and most recent case involved a 22-year-old who had previously absconded from supervision. During that earlier period, he allegedly participated in a gang-related shooting that later resulted in two murder charges and four attempted-murder charges.

Despite his history of violating supervision, he was released from SYTF for a second time and spent a brief period with his newborn daughter. He was later arrested and is now being held in county jail while facing the pending charges.

Release decisions require complete, current information. Probation officers need time to review prior violations, assess safety risks, meet with families, verify housing, coordinate treatment, and connect young people with schools, training programs, and employers. Hollowed-out field offices and unmanageable caseloads prevent officers from doing that work consistently.

HIRE FOR THE WHOLE SYSTEM  The County must hire enough officers to staff juvenile facilities safely and rebuild the field offices that provide supervision, services, and accountability after release.

What Local 685 Is Fighting For

Local 685 believes every young person should receive a meaningful opportunity to change. We must also be honest: no probation department, program, parent, or community organization can guarantee that every person will accept that opportunity or avoid future harm. We cannot save everyone. That reality is not an excuse to lower our expectations. It is a reason to build the strongest possible system for those who are ready to change and to manage risk responsibly when they are not.

Rehabilitation and public safety are not competing goals. Effective rehabilitation protects the public by addressing the conditions that contribute to harmful behavior and by giving young people practical reasons to choose a different path. The County can improve the odds of success by investing in the workforce and services that carry this work from custody into the community.

Local 685 is calling for a complete staffing and rehabilitation plan:

• Hire for safe juvenile facilities. Fill enough permanent positions to cover required posts, supervise visits, prevent contraband, support programming, and give officers time to build constructive relationships.

• Restore field offices. Replace the officers reassigned to institutions, reduce caseloads, resume home visits, enforce release conditions, coordinate services, and intervene early.

• Train and equip the workforce. Give officers continuing preparation in adolescent development, trauma, mental health, substance use, motivational interviewing, de-escalation, gang dynamics, and effective reentry planning.

• Provide treatment and practical resources. Young people need timely behavioral-health and substance-use services, stable housing, transportation, identification, health care, and continuity of care after release.

• Engage families and communities. Parents, caregivers, credible mentors, neighborhood organizations, faith communities, violence-intervention workers, and service providers should have clear roles, reliable communication, and meaningful accountability.

• Build education and employment pathways. Diplomas, credentials, apprenticeships, paid work experience, and employer partnerships give young people structure, income, and a realistic path forward.

A responsible juvenile justice system will not save every person. It will provide a real opportunity for change, make informed decisions, respond when risk increases, and give probation professionals the staffing, training, and resources to do the job. Second chances matter, and they are most meaningful when backed by structure, support, and accountability.