New Process in Place for Juvenile Hall Releases

County officials said Tuesday that they have cleared up communication problems between two county departments that had led to children being held in juvenile hall past their court-ordered release dates.

The problem had frustrated judges who ordered the Department of Probation to turn foster children over to the Department of Children and Family Services after charges were dropped or not filed.

But the children were not always picked up and sometimes waited in juvenile hall for weeks. Probation officials complained that social workers assigned to specific children were hard to locate and children’s services officials complained that notice of a child’s release often came late in the day.

In a report to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, the departments said they have agreed on notification procedures and a drop-off point for children who are not picked up by the end of the day. The board asked for a follow-up report next month to ensure that the process is running smoothly.