JUVENILE FACILITIES

The Ventura County Juvenile Facilities complex sits on a 45 acre parcel in an unincorporated area of the county near the community of El Rio. The Ventura County Probation Agency's state of the art detention and commitment facility was completed in 2003 at a cost of $65 million. Primary funding for the facility was a $40.5 million grant from the California Board of Corrections. The architectural firm Kaplan McLaughlin Diaz designed the facility and the contractor for the project was S.J. Amoroso. The total capacity of the facility is 420 male and female youth. The detention component houses 240 and the commitment component houses 180. All housing units are based on the "new generation" podular design.

In addition to the housing components, Juvenile Facilities include outdoor recreation areas for both detention and commitment programs, a multipurpose gymnasium/technology training center, a visiting center, medical offices and examination rooms, an intake/community confinement/booking area, classrooms, program and facility administration offices, kitchen and laundry services. Staff have locker rooms with showers, and a dining room. A juvenile courthouse with six courtrooms is located adjacent to the Juvenile Facilities.

Youth under our care are provided constructive individual and group activities within the facilities. Educational programming includes Providence School, an accredited school program administered by the County Superintendent of Schools. The County of Ventura's Behavioral Health Department provides psychiatric and crisis intervention services as well as group, individual, and family therapy within the facility. The California Forensic Medical Group provides medical services under contract with the County.

Cognitive behavior therapy programming is provided by probation staff and community based organizations. These programs include a gang intervention program, a gender specific program for females (Girls Inc.), and a problem solving/social skills program (Thinking for a Change). Additional programming includes: a tolerance program, parenting classes, tutoring, anger management, substance abuse counseling, chess, music and dance programs.

Since 2002, the Probation Agency has participated in the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative, a grant funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF). The AECF is dedicated to reforming juvenile detention practices. In collaboration with the juvenile court judges, local law enforcement, public defender and district attorney's office, the population was safely reduced utilizing a risk-based criteria for booking and detention alternatives including community confinement, home supervision, and electronic monitoring programs.

DETENTION

Detention housing is intended for youth going through the court process; however, it also serves to provide temporary custody of youth in need of short-term removal from the community and/or awaiting transfer to other jurisdictions or suitable placement facilities.

The detention component is comprised of three 60 bed general population housing units and one 60 bed special population housing unit. Units are named after local Ventura County canyons: Balcom, Matilija, Sycamore, and Wheeler. Each 60 bed general housing unit is divided into two 30-bed living units with each having its own dayroom, classrooms, open staff station, outdoor exercise areas, and a total of 30 single sleeping rooms. A single open staff station is located between two half units. The living units are cell-tier design with sleeping rooms located on the upper and lower levels.

Special population housing contains three 20-bed living units. One living unit is designed for youth with significant mental health issues, one for youth who present high security risks, and one for youth who are newly received in the facility and are undergoing classification and risk assessment. Each living unit has its own dayroom, classroom, and staff station in the dayroom area. Sleeping rooms are all located on one level. Two outdoor exercise areas are shared by the three living units.

COMMITMENT

Youth housed in commitment facilities are serving court imposed commitments of up to one year. The commitment component of the complex is comprised of three 60-bed housing units. They are named after the local Channel Islands: Anacapa, Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa. Each housing unit contains four 15-bed living units, four classrooms, two program rooms, and a shared dining/activity area. Each living unit has its own dayroom and outdoor exercise area. Sleeping rooms are a combination of three 4-person dorms and single rooms.

In the commitment facilities, educational and therapeutic-based programming is provided. Vocational, emancipation-based programming is provided for older youth. One of the commitment housing units is a dedicated female program designed to deal with gender specific issues.

Commitment residents at the Juvenile Facilities also have the opportunity to participate in community service by volunteering their labor and time to non-profit groups, including but not limited to Food Share and Green Cure.

COMMUNITY CONFINEMENT PROGRAM

Community Confinement is an all-inclusive term describing a program for youth who would otherwise be in secure confinement, but are allowed to remain at home under strict conditions and close supervision.

All youth released under a program of Community Confinement are supervised based on their individual circumstances and need. Each youth and their parent(s)/guardian are interviewed in order to determine risk to the community and need. Some youth are placed on home confinement with supervision and conditions of compliance but no Electronic Monitoring (EM). Higher risk youth are placed on EM.

In Electronic Monitoring, the youth wears a radio transmitter on a strap around his/her ankle and a monitoring "box" is hooked up to the youth's home phone. The youth is given "windows" of time during which he/she may be gone from home to school, work, Court appearances or other approved activities. The radio transmitter signals a monitoring center if the youth leaves home or returns home at unapproved times. The monitor also transmits a signal if the transmitter has been tampered with.

Community Confinement staff make contacts in person and by telephone at variable hours throughout the day. Staff conduct random drug testing, contact school officials regarding attendance and performance and conduct room searches for contraband. If a youth is found to be in violation of his/her release contract, staff return the youth to the Juvenile Facility and a Detention Hearing is scheduled within two judicial days. Because the youth are on a conditional release from custody, every effort is made to respond to adverse situations as quickly as possible.


JUVENILE PLACEMENT UNIT

This unit supervises youth who are either in a suitable placement facility or have suitable placement orders. The unit uses an inter-agency model of service delivery with a probation emphasis. Officers generally provide an intensive level of supervision with correspondingly small caseload sizes. Probation officers match youth with appropriate placement facilities, monitor those facilities, supervise youth in placement and work to transition youth from placement back to the community.

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