As California Shutters Juvenile Lockups, Probation Chiefs Urge Investigation Into 'Appalling' Conditions

California probation chiefs are calling for the state to launch an investigation into what’s been happening at the Department of Juvenile Justice in its waning months, saying youths who recently served time in the state lockups have returned home addicted to fentanyl, covered in tattoos and suffering from untreated medical conditions.

As of July 1, DJJ no longer exists — young people accused of crimes will now serve their sentences in county juvenile halls and at local programs. The change, which officials have been preparing for the past several years, comes after a sharp drop in the number of young people committing crimes in California and reforms to how youth offenders are sentenced. It follows years of allegations of violence and abuse at DJJ.

In recent years, state officials have insisted that many of those problems at DJJ were resolved, even as Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed for a shuttering of the state agency. But probation chiefs in both Sacramento and Shasta counties told KQED this week that they and other probation chiefs around the state are appalled at what they’re hearing about how youth and correctional officers were allowed to behave at DJJ facilities.

Probation departments oversee juvenile justice at the local level in all of California’s 58 counties.

Shasta County Probation Chief Tracie Neal said young people returning to her county reported that they have not been receiving rehabilitative programming in recent months, spent “excessive” time locked up in their rooms, and were aided in illegal behavior by the DJJ staff.

“We had our youth share that correctional staff were providing the youth with contraband, whether it was with tattoo equipment items or drugs or alcohol,” she said. “One youth in particular — he left us with no tattoos and he came back and he has tattoos all over his face, his neck, his arms. And he has shared with us that he was able to build tattoo guns within DJJ. He was even allowed different contraband from the correctional officers to assure that he had the access to what he needed to do.”

Sacramento Probation Chief Marlon Yarber said one young person who never struggled with drug use before going to DJJ returned to local custody addicted to fentanyl. He said DJJ staff called his staff to alert them to the problem and let them know that the youth had overdosed twice while at DJJ and had to be revived using Narcan.

“We took a call from staff at DJJ and, (they said) you know, some of the kids have had access to fentanyl and have been using drugs while in custody. And we’re like, oh, my goodness,” he said.

Both chiefs said they also see severe behavioral problems among the young people returning from DJJ — racial divisions, gang affiliations that didn’t exist before and other antisocial behavior.

“A few of the youth have shared with us that in general there was just a lack of oversight and supervision of them. They shared details with us about correctional staff allowing them opportunities to engage in fighting and violence,” Neal said. “That behavior would escalate … and nothing was done to stop that. One of our youth said that the staff would say, ‘Just don’t kill anyone and don’t get caught.’”

Yarber said one group of six young people had to be transported back to Sacramento County in two separate vans, because of conflict between the groups. And, he said, the problems are already spilling into the county juvenile justice system.

“The other real big indicator was, I think for the first time ever, arresting a parent at visiting,” he said. “Someone coming through our visitor center who had in their possession just hundreds of pills … thinking they would have a chance to sort of sit at the table together and might pass on those drugs to the youth.”

Those pills, he said, were seized by probation staff, and included more than 90 laced with fentanyl.

The chiefs want to see a state investigation into what’s happened at DJJ in recent months, and possibly criminal investigations by prosecutors. Neal said she’s filed one child abuse report, noting one young person returned to local custody with an untreated ankle injury.

“We’ve been having local discussions because some of the things that have been shared with us, you know, fall under criminal behavior,” she said.

In a written statement, a spokeswoman for the department that oversees DJJ said that the state takes allegations of staff misconduct seriously but will need “more and detailed information to formally open an investigation.”

“The health and safety of youth in our care is our top priority,” said Terri Hardy, spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, adding that after hearing concerns about opioid use, DJJ “immediately implemented a wave of testing for every remaining youth and testing prior to transport to counties.”

She said that out of more than 100 youth tested, “there was only one ‘refusal to test’ and one medically-related false positive. All other youth tested negative.”

Both Yarber and Neal said they are personally appalled and upset by what they’re seeing — and wondering how it’s going to affect the rest of their juvenile system.

“You know, we send these youth to DJJ to be held accountable, but also to receive the skills and treatment they need to successfully reintegrate,” said Neal. “And then to know that those kinds of conversations and sessions weren’t happening with the kids and instead they were allowed to do this is just it’s — it’s just hard. It’s crazy … I’ll speak personally, it’s … it’s been heartbreaking.”