Letters: Designing better juvenile probation camps
Re “L.A. County speeds up plan to rebuild youth probation camp,” Nov. 26
Los Angeles County’s probation camp system, based on an 80-year-old correctional design, represents an outdated approach to juvenile justice. The camps’ institutional design, with barracks-style dormitories and open bathrooms, has failed to meet the complex needs of incarcerated youth and remains an impediment to reform.
Through the Camp Kilpatrick replacement project, the county has the opportunity to further leave behind decades of abuse and poor outcomes and create a rehabilitative camp focused on treatment and improving the lives of young people.
In a new policy brief from Children’s Defense Fund-California and the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, social welfare professor Jorja Leap and I highlight how, with the continuing leadership from the county’s Board of Supervisors, Probation Department and Office of Education, and a commitment to involving the community, L.A. County can create an innovative model that ensures youth are set on the path toward becoming responsible adults.
Michelle Newell
Los Angeles
The writer is a senior policy associate at Children’s Defense Fund-California.
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