State to Search for Funds to Rescue Probation Camps

In response to urgent pleas from Los Angeles-area lawmakers, state officials said Thursday they will convene a cabinet-level meeting to see if they can come up with enough state aid to save the county’s 19 juvenile probation camps, which are set to close in May for lack of money.

But those same officials warned that the state is as broke as Los Angeles County, and that a combination of state, county and perhaps even federal money will be needed to save the county-run camps, if they can be saved at all.

“Obviously, the state has very limited revenues these days,” said Franz Wisner, a spokesman for Gov. Pete Wilson, who received a letter from Los Angeles County legislators Wednesday pleading for aid. “On the other hand, we understand fully the need to keep the camps open, and we are hoping to devise a solution that would allow them to remain open.”

The camps--many of which are in the San Fernando Valley area--are scheduled to close May 1 because the county faces an $845.5-million deficit and lacks the more than $60 million needed to continue operating them for another year.

Up to 2,100 juvenile criminals serving terms in the camps, including many violent and repeat offenders, would “immediately return to the streets” if the camps close, the local lawmakers complained.

The Wilson spokesman and other state officials who deal with juvenile justice issues said no date has been set for the meeting among cabinet-level members of state government. And they said it was too early to give a detailed response to the letter, written by Assemblyman Terry B. Friedman (D-Brentwood) and signed by all but one member of the Los Angeles County delegation.

But an internal memorandum circulating among top state officials, which officials described to The Times, outlines several proposed options to save the camps, which Friedman and Los Angeles County supervisors say provide a cheap and effective way of rehabilitating even the most incorrigible juvenile criminals. Among them: creating a joint operating agreement between state and county agencies so they can split the cost and administration of the camps, or have the state find a way to bail out the county without taking over the camps.

Or the state could foot the bill and take over the camps, state officials suggested. The California Youth Authority already runs juvenile prisons throughout the state, and if the probation camps close, the offenders could be sent there anyway as an alternative to releasing them to the streets.

Another option cited by state officials Thursday would be to petition the federal government for emergency aid, or for a change in federal laws that prohibit the use of Aid to Families with Dependent Children funds to pay for juveniles sent to the camps.

Federal AFDC foster-care funds already are allocated to county governments to pay for juveniles housed in county-run group homes until age 18, said Craig Brown, undersecretary for the state’s Youth and Adult Correctional Agency. But he said that under federal law, such funds cannot be used to pay for juveniles housed in the youth camps for the usual six-month terms.

Brown said balancing interests such as public safety and budget constraints will pose a vexing problem for state officials who are expected to come up with a solution that the governor can support. “None of us can take a position on this individually,” he said. “We obviously have to get together to come up with one administration position on this.”

Even though some state officials visited Los Angeles in January to attend an initial “summit meeting” on the issue, a spokesman for Friedman expressed frustration at the lack of progress. “The state’s response, every time someone comes up with an idea, good or bad, is to say no, with no response,” said Friedman spokesman Rand Martin. “The state seems to be acting as a gatekeeper, not a participant. So we’re trying to get the governor involved personally in this so he can exercise his leadership.”