Supervisors Move to Tackle Drug Use and Smuggling in County Juvenile Facilities

LOS ANGELES — In a 4-0 vote with one abstention, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in July approved a motion authored by Supervisor Janice Hahn and co-authored by Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath that directs the county’s probation department to implement a strategy to curb an ongoing issue with the smuggling and use of illicit drugs within the county’s juvenile detention centers, including through enhanced security screening and expanded substance use treatment. The emergency motion comes after a string of drug-related incidents, most recently an incident at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey in early July in which several youth and staff were hospitalized after suspected exposure to toxic drugs.

“Youth in Los Padrinos aren’t even allowed to hug their moms out of fear of drugs or contraband being passed, yet drugs keep getting in. We are failing our youth, we are failing our employees, and every day, we risk losing another life to substance use,” said Supervisor Hahn, whose district includes Los Padrinos. “I cannot sit by and do nothing to prevent drugs from coming into these juvenile facilities – if it will save lives, then I believe it is worth every effort.”

The Probation Department must now enhance its screening practices, including installing airport-style body scanners and strengthening the use of canines to detect drugs. Additionally, the motion calls for its work with the Department of Public Health’s substance abuse prevention and control (DPH-SAPC) to expand treatment for youth with active substance use disorders.

The suspected overdose and exposure at Los Padrinos was the latest in a string of incidents. In June, the Probation Department announced arrests in two separate incidents of suspected smuggling, first on June 10 of a Deputy Probation Officer accused of smuggling alprazolam into Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall, and then on June 30 of an employee of a contracted provider for allegedly attempting to smuggle more than 170 white pills into Los Padrinos. The motion also directs the Probation Department to cancel the contract with that contracted provider, Student Nest.