Overcrowding at O.C. Juvenile Hall Hits Peak

Overcrowding at Juvenile Hall has reached an all-time high in recent months and is being blamed for an increase in violence among inmates and earlier releases for some offenders, county officials said Wednesday.

Juvenile Hall was designed for 374 inmates but on Tuesday held 500, officials said. With summer vacation approaching and the weather warming, the Probation Department, which runs the facility in Orange, is bracing for even more inmates.

The Orangewood Children’s Home, which provides temporary shelter to abused and neglected children, recently hit a record high of 321 children, though the facility was designed to house 236. Children’s services officials said the overcrowding is making it more difficult to control some communicable diseases, such as hepatitis or upper-respiratory illnesses.

The county has been struggling for years to find the funding needed to build more juvenile facilities and improve programs. But the situation has been largely overshadowed by crowding at the county’s adult jails, which results in the early releases of thousands of inmates each year.

Board of Supervisors Chairman William G. Steiner said more attention needs to be focused on Juvenile Hall and Orangewood and has scheduled a board session Tuesday to discuss solutions with representatives of the Probation Department and Social Services Agency.

“I’m alarmed at the record high population at our juvenile institutions,” Steiner said. “The staff is doing a remarkable job, but the levels are so high now that they place the staff in jeopardy and threaten the health and safety of the children.”

At Juvenile Hall, officials said the cramped quarters are responsible for a jump in the number of violent confrontations between inmates. For a six-month period ending Feb. 28, 364 inmates were disciplined for fighting, compared to 138 inmates during the same period last year.

“I believe this is a direct result of overcrowding,” said Thomas G. Wright, director of Juvenile Hall. “The tension just continues to go up.”

Because of overcrowding, hundreds of juvenile offenders a year were being released 45 days before their sentences were up. But for much of 1996, the early releases were bumped up to 65 days so that beds would be available for more-serious offenders, according to the Probation Department.

The department has also stopped placing youths accused of misdemeanors at Juvenile Hall because of the space crunch.

The population at Juvenile Hall reached an all-time high of 529 in October. It dipped somewhat during the winter, but is now rising rapidly again, hitting 500 earlier this week, said Rod Speer, a spokesman for the Probation Department.

“We are headed in the wrong direction again,” he said. “We’re swelling up.”

Speer stressed that officials carefully select which inmates are released early. Those who qualify for early release are required to stay in close contact with the Probation Department, participate in day programs and in some cases wear electronic monitoring bracelets.

The Probation Department is scheduled to soon take control of 112 beds at two Santa Ana Police Department jails.

“It’s a step in the right direction, but there are still such tremendous needs out there,” said Cindy Stokke, chairwoman of the Orange County Juvenile Justice Commission, which monitors activities at both Juvenile Hall and Orangewood.

According to county projections, a total of at least 800 juvenile detention beds will be needed by 2000. At Orangewood, officials said demands for temporary shelter will increase by at least 20% over the next decade.

Stokke and others expressed concerns that the problems at Orangewood today could result in even greater demand for space at Juvenile Hall, noting that without help and support, abused and neglected children often turn to crime in their teen years.

Steiner said he also is particularly worried about the Orangewood overcrowding, which has made it harder for staff members to control contagious diseases, including hepatitis.

“It’s been a tough winter, and the crowded conditions make these diseases more difficult to deal with,” he said.

The Social Services Agency is hoping to build a second children’s home at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station when it closes by 1999. But funding has not been secured to build or operate a new institution.

The Probation Department also lacks the funds to build additional detention facilities or a 30-bed juvenile “boot camp,” which would stress physical labor, teamwork and education.

The county emerged from bankruptcy less than a year ago, and probably won’t be able to finance any major building projects in the near future, budget officials have said.

Even if money does become available, the juvenile institutions will have to compete for funding with the Sheriff’s Department, which wants to expand two existing adult jails.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Cramped Quarters

Juvenile Hall was designed for 374 inmates but regularly houses more. Population reached 500 again earlier this week. Monthly average population:

1996

September: 494

October: 506

November: 487

December: 441

****

1997

January: 440

February: 482

Daily high: 529, October 1996

Source: Orange County Probation Department