The U.S. Department of Justice has completed its onsite review
of Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall. The investigation focused on
conditions of confinement, specifically allegations of excessive
force that would violate the civil rights of institutionalized
persons.
The U.S. Department of Justice has completed its onsite review of Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall. The investigation focused on conditions of confinement, specifically allegations of excessive force that would violate the civil rights of institutionalized persons.
A full report on the findings will not be provided for several months; however, in an exit interview conducted last week, the investigation team found that overall the county’s Juvenile Hall is a good facility and that there was no pattern of abuse, officials said.
The rates of severe injury at the facility and use of force are very low. In the vast majority of incidents, the use of de-escalation methods and force were appropriate and did not result in injury. In addition, the Department of Justice noted that the Juvenile Hall staff members are well trained and highly educated. The investigation team also indicated that there were some incidents of the inappropriate use of force and recommended creating an internal quality assurance team to look at policies and procedures.
The county undertook an investigation of Juvenile Hall immediately after being notified of the complaints by the U.S. Department of Justice and has retained a nationally known expert in juvenile corrections, David Roush, to assist with changes. One change under way is the issuance of a new orientation pamphlet for parents with information about how to register concerns.
While the Department of Justice found that there were no civil rights violations at Juvenile Hall, they indicated that better management information is needed to ensure that policy-makers are alerted to potential problems.
“We will not stop where the Department of Justice Investigation ends,” said Blanca Alvarado, chairwoman of the county board of supervisors.
Alvarado is championing juvenile detention reform with Judge Ray Davilla, supervising judge of Juvenile Delinquency Court.
“We are taking proactive steps to review the systems in place at the Hall and we’re committed to ensuring that youth in the County’s custody are safe and protected from harm,” Alvarado said.
Among the proposals the county plans to institute in response to the Dfederal review are: establishing an independent person to handle grievances; creating quality assurance teams; improving documentation of medical intervention; monitoring treatment plans for anger management and substance abuse for juveniles, where appropriate; and improving follow-up on incident reports.
Judge Davilla and John Cavalli, the chief probation officer, said they want to ensure that the county’s Juvenile Hall is the highest quality facility.
“The court and the county will convene a working group to review disciplinary systems, complaint processes and internal reporting procedures,” said Davilla, concurring with a recommendation made by Alvarado.
