Relocation of all pre-disposition youth from Central, Barry J. Nidorf beats state deadline

LOS ANGELES, CA (July 19, 2023) — Capping a months-long effort to restart juvenile operations, the Los Angeles County Probation Department on Tuesday completed its relocation of 106 pre-disposition youth from its Barry J. Nidorf facility into the newly reopened Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall.

The move now means that pre-disposition youth are no longer housed at Barry J. Nidorf in Sylmar or Central Hall in Boyle Heights, beating a July 23 deadline set by the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) to vacate both facilities after the agency deemed both to be unsuitable as traditional juvenile halls.

The move follows a similar relocation of youth from Central last week and consolidates juvenile operations at Los Padrinos, which was reopened last week and as of now houses 274 pre-disposition youth and hundreds of staff on the 26-acre campus in Downey.

“We’ve gone from Mission Impossible to mission accomplished,” said Guillermo Viera Rosa, the County’s Interim Probation Chief. “The relocation of nearly 300 pre-disposition youth safely and in record time demonstrates what public servants across many LA County departments can do when everyone pulls together in the face of daunting odds.”

“I also think it is fitting we completed this move during Probation Services Week, which celebrates the mission, efforts and accomplishments of Probation officers everywhere,” said Viera Rosa. “In our juvenile operations alone, we’ve had many officers and staff that have gone above and beyond the call of duty working double shifts and overtime to keep things running until we could marshal the resources and political will to make this important institutional pivot.”

Viera Rosa said consolidating operations at Los Padrinos will help boost staffing numbers so that the department can establish a more normal schedule and deliver the services and safety that the youth and staff deserve.

In all, more than 360 full-duty officers will be reassigned to Los Padrinos with another 116 full-duty officers going to Barry J. Nidorf, which will become a dedicated Secure Youth Track Facility for about 60 older, more serious offenders who are no longer held in state custody.

Meanwhile, the Department is in the middle of a hiring campaign that will add more than 300 new recruits to both Los Padrinos and to Barry J. Nidorf by the end of 2024.