State regulators voted Tuesday to find Los Angeles County’s troubled juvenile halls “unsuitable,” an unprecedented decision that will force the county to quickly move nearly 300 youths out of the troubled facilities.
The unanimous vote by the Board of State and Community Corrections gives the county two months to move the youths housed in Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar and Central Juvenile Hall in Boyle Heights out of those facilities.
The move ends a years-long back-and-forth between the L.A. County Probation Department, which oversees the halls, and the state board, which inspects them.
The board first deemed the halls unsuitable in 2021, a step it had never taken before but gave probation officials repeated opportunities to come back into compliance with minimum requirements. The board put off a decision to close the halls in April, drawing the ire of youth advocates who said the department had been given far too many second, third and fourth chances.
The board decided Tuesday it was done giving extensions.
“The time has come to take an extraordinarily difficult move,” said board Chair Linda Penner.
State regulators have highlighted numerous problems within the two facilities.
An acute staffing crisis has meant not enough officers working to let youths out of their rooms, much less outside into fresh air. Those same limitations have led to cancellation of family visits, limited or nonexistent schooling or even access to therapy — all issues that advocates, staff and juveniles in custody have said lead to additional fights and deteriorating mental health conditions for detainees.
Conditions within the facilities have worsened as violent incidents and overdoses have risen. An 18-year-old was found dead in his room at Nidorf earlier this month of an apparent overdose — the first time a youth has died at a juvenile hall since 2010, according to a county spokesperson.
Regulators will formally notify the county by Wednesday that it will have 60…