Juvenile Detention Center Simi Valley Near Me

4worldlovers:
The Ventura County Juvenile Facilities complex sits on a 45 acre parcel in an unincorporated area of the county near the community of El Rio. It is located at 4333 Vineyard Avenue, Oxnard, CA 93036. The Ventura County Probation Agency’s state of the art detention and commitment facility was completed in 2003 at a cost of $65 million. Primary funding for the facility was a $40.5 million grant from the California Board of Corrections. The total capacity of the facility is 420 male and female youth. The detention component capacity is 240 and the commitment component capacity 180.


In addition to the housing components, Juvenile Facilities include outdoor recreation areas for both detention and commitment programs, a multipurpose gymnasium/technology training center, a visiting center, medical offices and examination rooms, an intake/community confinement/booking area, classrooms, program and facility administration offices, kitchen and laundry services. Staff has locker rooms with showers, and a dining room. A juvenile courthouse with six courtrooms is located adjacent to the Juvenile Facilities.


Youth under our care are provided constructive individual and group activities within the facilities. Educational programming includes Providence School, an accredited school program administered by the County Superintendent of Schools. The County of Ventura’s Behavioral Health Department provides psychiatric and crisis intervention services as well as group, individual, and family therapy within the facility. The California Forensic Medical Group provides medical services under contract with the County.


Cognitive behavior therapy programming is provided by probation staff and community based organizations. These programs include a gang intervention program, a gender specific program for females (Girls Inc.), and a problem solving/social skills program. Additional programming includes: a tolerance program, parenting classes, tutoring, anger management, substance abuse counseling, chess, music and dance programs.


Since 2002, the Probation Agency has participated in the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative, a grant funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF). The AECF is dedicated to reforming juvenile detention practices. In collaboration with the juvenile court judges, local law enforcement, public defender and district attorney’s office, the population was safely reduced utilizing risk-based criteria for booking and detention alternatives including community confinement, home supervision, and electronic monitoring programs.


Juvenile Facilities detention housing is intended for youth going through the court process. It also serves to provide temporary custody for youth in need of short-term removal from the community and/or awaiting transfer to another jurisdiction or placement facility.


The Detention Unit is comprised of one 60-bed male population housing unit, one 20-bed special population housing unit, and one 15-bed female housing unit. Units are named after local Ventura County canyons: Balcom, Matilija and Sycamore. Each general housing unit contains 15 single sleeping rooms. The units have their own dayroom, classrooms, open staff station, and outdoor exercise areas. The living units are designed with sleeping rooms, or cells, located on an upper and lower level. A gymnasium and recreational yard are located adjacent to the units and are used for supervised recreational activities.


The Special Population Housing Unit consists of a 20-bed living unit designed for youth with significant mental health, behavioral, or medical issues. The living unit has its own dayroom, classroom and staff station. Sleeping rooms are all located on one level. Two outdoor exercise areas are available for supervised use by the minors.


In the Detention Units, educational and therapeutic programming is available, and youth also have the opportunity to participate in community service projects by volunteering their labor and time to non-profit organizations.


The Ventura County Probation Agency (VCPA) detains youth in the Juvenile Facilities who cannot be placed in a less restrictive setting and have been arrested for serious law violations or substantial violations of their probation terms. In accordance with the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI), VCPA assesses the risk of youth utilizing a risk assessment instrument. Secure detention is only applied in those cases when a minor, as a result of their actions or behavior, presents a significant threat to the community an imminent risk of harm to themselves, risk to the person or property of others or demonstrates a significant likelihood they will not appear at future court appearances. VCPA is committed to maintaining a safe and secure environment for youth in those situations where detention is deemed necessary, which both assures safety to the community and is conducive to the goals of rehabilitation.