COUNTYWIDE : Board Seeks Funds for Youth Camps
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has asked the state to provide $40.6 million to prevent closure of all but one of the county’s probation camps, which house about 4,500 youth offenders annually.
The county Probation Department proposed closing 19 of 20 camps to meet an estimated 8% cut required in all county department budgets for the coming year. Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, who proposed making a plea to the state, said he considered the proposed closures an emergency.
The problem was discussed Tuesday after Chief Probation Officer Barry Nidorf asked the board to approve plans to construct a $172,000 swimming pool at the Challenger Memorial Youth Camp in the Antelope Valley, the county’s largest camp. Supervisor Ed Edelman questioned building a pool if the camp is destined to be closed.
But Nidorf said Challenger will undoubtedly be used for other county purposes, perhaps as a juvenile hall, and that the pool will be paid for with existing grant money earmarked for that purpose.
Edelman also expressed skepticism that the state, faced with a budget deficit of its own, will “find $40 million to subsidize the county.”
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