Budget Clouds New Juvenile Facility

Construction of Ventura County’s $65-million juvenile hall and treatment complex is moving along smoothly, but county officials say finding the money to run the center may be the tougher job.

Dozens of probation officers, maintenance workers and other support staff members must be recruited and trained in preparation for the center’s planned September 2003 opening.

The question is: How will the county manage to do that next year while facing its tightest budget in nearly a decade?

Some money has been set aside to cover the costs of transferring staff members from outdated and overcrowded juvenile facilities to the new center, County Executive Officer Johnny Johnston said.

But it is far from the estimated $10 million needed to hire additional staff members to run the complex of juvenile detention wards, classrooms and courtrooms.

“Up to now it’s been a ‘Field of Dreams’ approach: Build it and they will come,” Johnston said. “It’s a difficult situation because there are so many competing demands. But this is a priority for the county and something will have to give.”

Probation agency leaders will spend the coming year moving into the facility and finding permanent funding sources, Johnston said. County officials moved ahead on the project before solidifying operation costs in order to obtain a $40.5-million state grant covering construction expenses.

The new facility will house 420 juvenile offenders in a central facility and three camps, replacing the antiquated, 84-bed juvenile hall on Hillmont Avenue.

Set on a 45-acre parcel near El Rio, the campus will also house administrative offices, six juvenile courtrooms and several classrooms. Officials hope to get troubled youth back on track by offering vocational training, mental health counseling and other services while incarcerated.

Workers have spent the past several months installing storm drains, sewer lines and electrical connections, said Karen Staples, a special projects deputy in the probation agency. Paved roads lead to the site and cinder-block walls are starting to rise.

Although much of the project is hidden behind mounds of dirt, within a month or two entire buildings will be visible, Staples said. Construction is expected to be completed by June 2003.

“We are on time and we are on budget,” she said.

Besides hiring staff members, 2002 will be spent developing training manuals for the facility and outfitting it with furnishings and equipment, Staples said.

County government is already facing an estimated $20-million shortfall in its 2002-03 budget, and things could get worse next month when Gov. Gray Davis releases the state’s fiscal plan. The nation’s economic downturn and its effect on California’s economy mean counties will most likely take their share of budget cuts, Supervisor Steve Bennett said.

“The demands facing the county are enormous relative to the revenue,” Bennett said. “It will be a much tougher fiscal year.”