The Los Angeles County Probation Workgroup

Technical Report

Workgroup Leads

Denise C. Herz, Ph.D.
Kristine Chan, MSW

California State University, Los Angeles

On September 15, 2015, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a motion to build on The Los Angeles County Juvenile Probation Outcomes report findings in order to create a mechanism to implement the report recommendations and ensure continued systems improvement and monitoring of youth outcomes, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors direct the Interim Chief Executive Officer and the Probation Department to review the Juvenile Probation Outcomes Study and establish an interagency workgroup.

The goals of this workgroup are to support Probation in its on-going development and implementation of best practices in juvenile justice. In particular, this group shall focus its efforts on maximizing service integration, strengthening coordination between County departments and community based service providers, ensuring a data driven, transparent and accountable juvenile justice system, and improving information sharing within Probation and across County departments. To achieve these goals, the workgroup shall:

  • Task 1: Articulate a Los Angeles County Juvenile Justice Strategy

  • Task 2: Identify ways in which the current array of countywide services/initiatives available to this population align with the strategy and areas in which best practices and evidence based programs are currently used

  • Task 3: Identify challenges, gaps and unmet needs in services, including community-based front end prevention and intervention services, services and interventions while youth are in placement, and community-based services for youth who are transitioning back into the community

  • Task 4: Develop a seamless referral system for accessing appropriate County and community-based services in a timely manner

  • Task 5: Identify key outcomes for regular and consistent reporting

  • Task 6: Develop a plan for establishing a Probation based research unit that would partner with external researchers to produce a research agenda that aligns with the plans listed above

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