The PJLC Wins Agreement from State Board to Hold Juvenile Halls Accountable

California’s Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) has agreed to begin enforcing minimum safety standards for juvenile halls after sustained legal pressure from the Peace and Justice Law Center (PJLC) and allied organizations. The agreement marks a turning point in a long-running effort to stop counties from confining young people in facilities that the state itself has found unsafe.

In the months leading up to the agreement, PJLC and the Youth Law Center repeatedly warned the BSCC that it was failing to meet its legal duties. In an April 2023 public comment letter, the organizations explained that Los Angeles County had missed mandatory deadlines to correct severe staffing shortages, violence, and safety failures at its juvenile halls. Under state law, those failures required the BSCC to formally declare the facilities “unsuitable” and begin the closure process — something the Board had historically avoided.

Rather than allow unsafe conditions to continue indefinitely, PJLC and its partners made clear they were prepared to pursue litigation to force enforcement. Facing that pressure, BSCC staff agreed to a process requiring the Board to make formal unsuitability findings when counties fail to comply with minimum standards and to take concrete steps toward closure when necessary.

At the time, PJLC also highlighted the broader structural problem: California’s oversight system had too many loopholes that allowed dangerous facilities to remain open. Speaking to the press in May 2023, PJLC Executive Director Sean Garcia-Leys explained that gaps in state law had limited the Board’s ability to act decisively in some cases, calling those gaps a “blind spot” that left youth exposed to harm. He emphasized that oversight agencies must have real enforcement power if safety standards are going to mean anything in practice.

The BSCC’s agreement has immediate implications for Los Angeles County, where chronic understaffing and violence had already been documented by state inspectors. More broadly, it sends a clear message statewide: minimum standards for juvenile halls are not optional, and prolonged noncompliance will trigger enforcement.

PJLC will continue monitoring the BSCC’s follow-through and working with partners to ensure that youth are not confined in facilities that put their lives and well-being at risk. This work is part of PJLC’s ongoing commitment to accountability, harm reduction, and the eventual dismantling of dangerous and ineffective youth detention practices.

Update 5/9/2023: Sadly, a young person overdosed and died at one of the juvenile halls last night. The staffing shortage has made it impossible to keep out fentanyl and other drugs. This death would not have happened if the juvenile halls had been closed as they should have been. Considering the increasing drug use and violence, we fear for the safety of everyone in these facilities. The young man's family and friends, and the staff who responded, all have our deepest sympathies. But we know hopes and prayers are not enough and so we are doing everything in our power to shut down these unsafe juvenile halls as quickly as possible.

Update 5/23/2023: Despite a request from the County of Los Angeles for a nearly 6-month extension, the BSCC honored their commitment to us and voted today to give Los Angeles 60 days to stop confining youth in unsuitable facilities. Both of Los Angeles' juvenile halls must now close by July 23rd.

LA County Juvenile Halls Could Be Forced To Close Down. NBC 4 Los Angeles.

State Could Shut Down L.A. County Juvenile Halls by July 23. Los Angeles Daily News.