LA County's New Youth Probation Camp Promises to Deliver Therapeutic Care

Nestled a few miles inland from the Malibu coast and surrounded by Santa Monica Mountains, Campus Kilpatrick is the crown jewel of Los Angeles County's juvenile probation system. The $52 million renovation project that's been in the works since 2010, will open its doors in June to house 120 new juvenile residents. They will be the first class to experience the "LA Model," a rehabilitative justice approach that focuses on therapeutic care. This new approach includes comprehensive care ranging from family therapy to basic life skills.

Kilpatrick is a modern building with a bright, spacious dining room and natural light from windows that reach to the ceiling. The living quarters, genially named "cottages," are furnished with brightly colored furniture and gaming tables. The change in name from Camp Kilpatrick to Campus Kilpatrick was intentional; It was a symbolic gesture to imagine the facility as a college campus rather than a youth prison. However, the cameras installed throughout the grounds and the tall black steel fences serve as reminders that this, after all, is a detention center.

The renovations at Kilpatrick are a stark contrast to Camp Miller located right next door. Miller closed its doors in 2015. The Los Angeles County Probation Department plans to tear down the buildings to make room for Kilpatrick's landscaping.

Camp Miller is a quintessential representation of how most Los Angeles County juvenile camps have been planned. Built in the mid century, the buildings are old and decrepit. The sleeping quarters were inspired by military barracks, including long rows of beds that housed 240 juveniles under one roof with open showers and toilets. Seating in the dining area was small and cramped, serving often as a hotbed for confrontations.

Kilpatrick was renovated to change all of that, not just physically but philosophically. After Los Angeles County won a $30 million grant from the state in 2012, juvenile justice advocates including the Children's Defense Fund insisted on taking part in the project to renovate Kilpatrick and demonstrate a new approach to rehabilitating juvenile offenders. They saw it as a chance to overhaul the old model of incarceration once and for all.

The LA County Probation Department was on board too. Just a year before receiving the grant, the department, along with the Los Angeles County Office of Education, had settled a civil suit with defendants from Challenger Memorial Youth Center, the county's largest juvenile detention center. The suit had accused the county departments of inadequate educational and rehabilitative efforts.

"We want to change the way they think why they are detained," said Dave Mitchell, chief of the Probation Department's Residential Treatment Services Bureau, about the juveniles in detention and renovations at Kilpatrick. "Detention camps are not a panacea for everything that ails [these kids], but we can stabilize their behavior and educate."

All photos by Iris Lee

As Campus Kilpatrick bids to become the shining example of the LA Model with its new facilities and advocacy for rehabilitative justice, it remains to be seen whether the program will sufficiently address the issues at the center of the Los Angeles juvenile justice system, where around 1,000 youths are released from some form of placement. While the overall incarceration of youths has decreased, the recidivism rate still hovers around 60 percent, and about a third of juveniles are arrested within a year of exiting some probation program.

Recidivism and Reform: California Juveniles

Recidivism occurs when a person is arrested for another crime after they have already been arrested at least once. It is often used as a marker for whether a person has been successfully rehabilitated post-incarceration. Recidivism is also a public safety issue. If the rate is high, it is assumed that incarceration is intensifying the person's criminal tendencies rather than rehabilitating them.

Data collection is particularly important because it allows government departments to track the progress of reform programs in the system. However, data on recidivism is scant, critics say. In California, the Department of Juvenile Justice only publishes a monthly update of population data with few special reports published throughout the years. The last report on recidivism was issued in 2016. It was the first one since 2010, which reported on youths released from 2004 to 2005.

By comparison, its adult counterpart, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, publishes an annual outcomes evaluation report, where recidivism rates and characteristics can be tracked and identified.

The concept of recidivism started receiving attention in the early 2000s when advocacy surrounding juvenile justice started to ramp up. The advocacy efforts were in part a reaction to harsh conditions at youth prisons that had come to light in the 1990s.

In the 1980s and the 1990s, the now debunked idea of youth "super predator" persisted, mainly stemming from the work of John J. DiIulio Jr., a political science professor at Princeton University who later served as director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives under President George W. Bush.

As DiIulio's portrayal of incarcerated youths as dangerous criminals who are sociopathic and incurable started gaining public attention, the public's fear of juveniles led to an increase in youth incarceration. Consequently, the correctional system started to focus more on incarceration rather than rehabilitation.

In this environment the California Department of Juvenile Justice, then known as the California Youth Authority, or CYA, engaged in practices at juvenile prisons that generated complaints from prison rights advocates and critical media coverage. In 2000, it was reported that the CYA was distributing psychopathic drugs to youths without consent. From 1996 to 2003, there were 13 suicides reported with more than 50 suicide attempts in CYA facilities, which housed around 8,000 juveniles total.

As more reports on decrepit conditions in juvenile prisons came to light, advocates started taking action. In 2002 the Prison Law Office, a prisoner rights advocacy group, filed a lawsuit against the CYA on behalf of Margaret Farrell, a taxpayer.

The suit argued that the CYA was involved in unlawful practices at its facilities and was funding them through taxpayer money. The suit alleged that CYA staffers were abusing their power by insufficiently treating youth who had mental and physical disabilities. It also highlighted the use of solitary confinement, which skewed toward minority inmates.

In response to the lawsuit, the CYA assembled a group of specialists who audited the prison conditions. The same year, a report published in conjunction with the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice said that the CYA had failed "to adequately prepare parolees for an independent, self-sufficient lifestyle outside a correctional institution."

In 2004 the CYA and the Prison Law Office entered into a consent decree, a legal agreement between two parties, which addressed the conditions of the lawsuit but without an admission of guilt. The CYA agreed to immediate and long-term measures that would address violence, disability services and rehabilitation. The measures were overseen by court-appointed experts and reports were published on a yearly basis to track the progress. The litigation continued until 2008.

During this time California reorganized the departments that oversaw the correctional facilities. In 2005 the California Youth Authority was changed to the Department of Juvenile Justice.

Following the reforms at the department, Senate Bill 81 (SB-81) was passed in 2007 and signed by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The bill limited the number of juvenile offenders going to state prisons. Instead, more offenders were to be incarcerated in their own counties. The bill allowed more than 80 percent of juvenile offenders to be detained at a county level. In order to accommodate this shift in population, the state added funding for counties to support their efforts to increase and improve their facilities.

The funds created by SB-81 became the basis for Los Angeles County's move toward designing the LA Model. In 2008, community-based organizations alerted the Los Angeles County Probation Department about availability of funds from the state. The state funding came with several stipulations - the county was to propose a project that would meet the state's standards for staff, maintenance and programming. In 2012 the funding was finalized, with the state providing $28 million, with a $13 million match from Los Angeles County.

Recidivism and Reform: From State to County

Challenges in the juvenile system persisted at the county level while reforms were happening at the state level. In 2010, the Los Angeles County Probation Department and the Los Angeles County Office of Education were defendants in a class-action suit that highlighted the inadequate services provided at the Challenger youth camp. The settlement of the suit led to the creation of the Challenger Reform Task Force, which consisted of education and rehabilitation experts.

While the LA Model was specifically developed for Campus Kilpatrick, some ideas behind it are being implemented in all camps around the county. In an effort to examine the current state of the juvenile justice system, the county commissioned experts to write the Los Angeles County Juvenile Probation Outcomes Study, published in 2015.

The study found that a lack of dependable data, which is seen at the state level, was repeated at the county level. The study said systems for data collection on juveniles were "outdated ... and programmed for compliance rather than case management and data-driven practice decisions."

"They [in the Probation Department] have an electronic information system but it doesn't have much in it," said Jacquelyn McCroskey, a professor of child welfare at the University of Southern California. "Information like substance abuse, family issues and educational background were all in written files."

McCroskey is one of the authors of the county's Juvenile Probation Outcomes Study. To overcome this lack of easily accessible data, she and other researchers randomly selected 500 case files from youth who have exited suitable placement and camp placements. From there the researchers examined case files - mostly hand-written - from LA County's Office of Education, the Probation Department and the Department of Children and Family Services.

The study found that over half of the youths who exited from placement programs came from families who were receiving public assistance. More than 60 percent of youth had a family member who was previously incarcerated. The study concluded that "a strong support system" at all levels - both in incarceration and in transition - is essential for success, while stressing that preventing recidivism would require a multidepartmental effort.

McCroskey said that contrary to popular belief, at times placement can be the first step in changing a juvenile's way of thinking.

"I have a recent student who said, for her, the best thing that happened was going to a group home," McCroskey said. "It was her third arrest. She said when she went she felt that they saw something in her that nobody had ever seen."

However, without the right support system post-incarceration, recidivism can occur.

"What it comes down to is the environment these children transition out to," said Jamie Carias, a volunteer in education programs at Camp Gonzalez, a county juvenile detention facility in Calabasas in the San Fernando Valley. He recounted an experience with one of his students.

"His mom was there at every [family support] training. He promised he would change."

The student was released in October 2015 after spending eight months in Camp Gonzalez.

"When went back in January, he was back," Carias said. "His mother started telling me that when he got released, his friends started contacting him. At first he fought it off, but then he snuck out the window. She was so embarrassed."

He said that because most incarcerated youths come from busy working-class families, parents are often not able to police them without additional support.

Looking Ahead with LA Model

Inside Camp Joseph Scott in Santa Clarita, it's just another Friday. As the only juvenile camp for girls in Los Angeles County, it is a home to about 30 at any given time.

Camp Scott's structure is almost identical to that of Camp Miller. Housing units have long rows of beds, and classroom buildings have low ceilings with outside hallways. In the distance you can hear girls in same gray sweatpants and white T-shirts giggling down the hallways.

After lunch in the dining hall, the girls go into four different classrooms. The principal, Kimberly Humphries, explains that they have been learning about the Great Depression this week.

In the classroom, a teacher asks the class ambassador to come to the front and explain what they are doing today.

"We are learning to invest," the girl says. "They're giving us some money and we have to buy stocks to make more money."

Camp Supervisor Jocelyn Roman, who is giving a tour of the facility, jokes, "You better give me some good ideas on where to put my money."

The education program at Camp Scott is provided by the Los Angeles County Office of Education in conjunction with the Children's Defense Fund's Freedom Schools.

"The main idea is to make it fun," explains Humphries. "We use skits and artwork to learn. Make it hands-on."

Throughout the classrooms, there are dioramas and posters that students created. At a glance it almost seems like any other high school. Some kids are so focused on their work, they barely look up. Others joke around with teachers.

While the facilities at Camp Scott are dated, the program here is not. Because Campus Kilpatrick will only be for boys, Camp Scott has already implemented programs that are changing it from within.

"We are already doing the LA Model. We just haven't named it that yet," says Roman.

At Camp Scott, the probation officers have more freedom to implement and lead programs. Roman says she likes to participate in dialectic behavioral therapy, a small group therapy led by the county's Department of Mental Health.

"It's definitely one of my favorite programs of everything that we've ever offered," Roman says. "It's a lot of talking between the staff and the minors. Not talking to but talking amongst each other. A lot of it is about no judgments, and meeting where you are."

The therapy session is offered to everyone at Camp Scott. In addition, the camp offers a life skills class that covers parenting, health and finance.

Roman gushes about a program that was created by one of the probation officers. "We call it Girls in Capes," she says. "We sit and talk about superheroes who are women," she said. "We help the youth to build their self-esteem by discussing the power of women. The girls really like it. "

According to Roman, the transition plan starts as soon as a girl enters Camp Scott. Within the first 14 days, there is a mandated multidepartmental meeting. Parents, if available, are encouraged to participate in the meeting.

"We discuss what services this youth needs, not just while they're here but for when they leave," says Roman. "Maybe somewhere in the middle you find out that there is a hiccup. Mom had a place but she doesn't live there anymore. We'll all get together again, to ensure that we're meeting all the services and know, even down to the school and the community after they get out."

A few moments later, a fight breaks out between two girls in the hallway. Roman barely looks up and continues on with the tour. One of the girls is sitting in a corner with a probation officer, a teacher and a mental health specialist. Although it's clear that the girl is not in the mood to talk, the probation officer sits by her side, gently trying to get her to speak with him.

Despite the incident, the girl will not be going to solitary confinement, as she would have in the '90s. The building that has the confinement rooms still exists, but it has been renamed the Hope Center.

Inside the center, a few rooms are decorated with pillows or have stacks of books by them.

"Girls can come here now if they want to take some time away from everyone," Roman says. "They can sit and talk to us or not, but we stay in here with them."

According to Bureau Chief Dave Mitchell, Camp Scott will be renovated to replicate the facilities at Campus Kilpatrick. The LA Model has 10 "essential elements" ranging from multidepartment collaboration and family therapy services to a focus on academics, which are already in effect here at Camp Scott.

Before housing the youths, Campus Kilpatrick will have a four-week training session with staff to cultivate a culture focused on rehabilitation.

At Camp Scott, supervisor Roman has already been working on that. She makes sure that her staff members are open to the idea of rehabilitation and are willing to open their minds to different approaches.

"A model staff is open to understand that every case is different," she says. "Every approach might have to be different and they have to be willing to collaborate with every agency."

Click and drag to explore Camp Scott in this interactive map (interviews with supervisor Jocelyn Roman)