All in Juvenile Justice News

Plan to phase out pepper spray this year at L.A.'s juvenile halls hits a potential snag

When Los Angeles County leaders voted unanimously in February to ban the use of pepper spray in its juvenile detention facilities, officials were tasked with phasing out the chemical agent by the end of the year.

But on Tuesday, the head of the county’s Probation Department — which runs juvenile detention facilities — told the Board of Supervisors that her agency will need more time.

Pay raises on the horizon as Texas prisons continue to deal with staffing shortages

Then-union spokesman Lance Lowry fretted in fall 2017 about a “mass exodus” in the state’s prison system, with an officer turnover rate so high that nearly 1 in 3 guards fled the agency over the prior year.

Little has changed since — and the vacancy rate is ticking up, as critical positions sit unfilled both Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s 104 adult prisons and at the Texas Juvenile Justice Department’s five youth prisons.