Image courtesy of the Del Norte County Probation Department

Previously:

• Del Norte Probation Chief Says Juvenile Hall Operating 90 Hours Per Week; Supes Ask Humboldt to House Local Wards

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County supervisors will revisit a recommendation to close Del Norte’s 24-7 juvenile detention facility by June 30.

Lonnie Reyman is scheduled to give an update to county supervisors about two months after he urged them to inform the Board of State and Community Corrections that Del Norte’s juvenile hall is a special purpose facility. In January, Reyman said he only had enough staff to operate the facility 90 hours a week.

The special purpose facility designation limits the amount of time youth can be in custody to 96 hours a week and exempts facilities from having to offer school, health education and haircuts, Reyman told supervisors in January.

On Feb. 9, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors approved an agreement with Del Norte County to take in some of its juvenile offenders. In a presentation to the Board of Supervisors on Feb. 14, Reyman said four Del Norte youth were in custody in Humboldt County and three were in Shasta County.

He said he anticipated having five housed in Humboldt by the end of that week.

“The challenge we’re going to have with Humboldt, they’re a larger county than us, generally speaking, it’s a fairly small hall compared to a lot of other counties in the state,” Reyman told supervisors on Feb. 14. “Capacity is always going to be a question. Always going to be something we have to navigate through with them, and that is going to be in terms of their bed space as well as staffing. They are struggling with staffing like many counties are across the state.”

Reyman said his preference is to house youth in Humboldt County if needed. Bringing them to Shasta County is also an option, but it takes more than 10 hours to transport offenders back and forth for processing and court appearances.

“We’re making it work and we have been since December,” he said.

Reyman’s initial recommendation to close juvenile hall’s 24-7 detention facility came Oct. 11. His department was unable to meet state-mandated staffing requirements. This includes having one male and one female staff member to oversee the girls and boys in custody, a requirement Del Norte County is often unable to comply with.

Another regulation listed in the state’s Title 15 Minimum Standards for Juvenile Facilities states that juvenile correction officers are required to complete the Juvenile Corrections Officer Core Training course, according to Reyman. The adult probation staff he’s had to call on to fill the staffing vacancies at juvenile hall don’t have those certifications, Reyman said.

The Del Norte County Board of Supervisors meets at 10 a.m. Tuesday in the Flynn Center, 981 H Street in Crescent City. Agendas and meeting broadcasts are available at www.co.del-norte.ca.us.

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