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Juvenile probation leaders credit diversion, urge preservation of community services to avoid more detention
Summary
Henry Gonzales said juvenile detention populations have fallen from 300+ to about 132 daily, attributing the change to screening, diversion and community-based alternatives such as the Opportunity Center. He warned that cuts to community services or forensic evaluations would increase detention stays and recidivism.
Henry Gonzales, executive director of Juvenile Probation, told commissioners the department has become a national-model-style system focused on diversion and community-based care. Gonzales said the county operates a 210-bed detention center with an average daily population of 132 (down significantly from 8 years ago) and runs community supervision, mental-health services, a charter school and residential-treatment capacity.
Gonzales said the department's detention-screening instrument (developed with the Annie E. Casey Foundation) and expanded diversion options dramatically reduced low-risk admissions. He highlighted the Opportunity Center, a repurposed residential facility now providing daytime education, vocational training and wraparound services so youth can remain in the community. "Recidivism at the Opportunity Center dropped from about 58% down to about 28%," a deputy director said when asked about outcomes.
Gonzales warned that proposed non-labor offsets—particularly reductions in community-based therapy or forensic evaluation contracts—would lengthen detention stays and likely raise recidivism and state commitments. He asked the court to preserve community alternatives and state discretionary-match funding that covers portions of probation officer salaries.
