Los Angeles County has a rare opportunity to make sweeping and necessary improvements to the way it rehabilitates incarcerated youth as it moves forward with a project to replace Camp Vernon J. Kilpatrick, a dilapidated all-boys camp in the hills above Malibu, with a modern probation camp model that is less prison-like and more therapeutic, according to a new policy brief from the Children’s Defense Fund-California and UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.

They recommend that L.A. County create a model juvenile justice camp that helps “youth develop pro-social strengths and attributes, heal from past victimization, build relationships, develop skills, and address mental health and substance abuse problems.” Outlining an extensive history of misconduct and abuse in L.A. County’s juvenile probation facilities, Newell and Leap argue the system is overdue for reform.

“For too long, youth and families across L.A. County have been mistreated by a juvenile justice system that often does more harm than good,” Newell said. “We need a system focused on rehabilitating and improving the lives of young people, not one that drives them deeper into the cradle to prison pipeline. This replacement project is a real opportunity for our political leaders to do what’s right for our kids.”

L.A. County’s juvenile justice system is the largest in the nation, detaining nearly 2,000 youth in three juvenile halls and 14 probation camps on any given day.

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