Home » Santa Clarita News » Los Angeles County News » L.A. Board Of Supervisors Approves Substitute Motion For Santa Clarita Juvenile Camps Scott, Scudder
Sign for camps Scudder and Scott in Santa Clarita
Photo courtesy of the City of Santa Clarita

L.A. Board Of Supervisors Approves Substitute Motion For Santa Clarita Juvenile Camps Scott, Scudder

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (BOS) approved an alternate substitute motion to move forward with a plan in response to a proposal that would have Camps Scott and Scudder acting as temporary secure youth treatment facilities on Tuesday.

The L.A. County Board of Supervisors have approved a substitute motion with a 3-2 vote to explore options to move male juvenile offenders from across Los Angeles County to Camp Kilpatrick instead of Joseph Scott or Kenyon Scudder after renovations in Santa Clarita during their Tuesday meeting.

After a spirited debate between board members over the “substitute of a substitute motion,” referred to as such by some board members due to its recent inclusion in the agenda, the motion barely passed with the needed majority vote.

“Our motion instructs the Juvenile Justice Realignment Block Grant (JJRBG) Subcommittee to consider the operational needs required to effectively and compassionately care for the Department of Juvenile Justice Youth who are being realigned to the County by the State,” said Supervisor Kathryn Barger. “We need a careful and thorough assessment of all licensed Probation facilities, including security and safety needs, programmatic components, and feasibility for serving these youth.”

The substitute motion introduced by Supervisors Barger and Solis asked the JJRBG Subcommittee to consider and rank other viable options within the County.

“Identifying multiple placement options for the Department of Juvenile Justice Youth is essential to support individual success and to help these youth reach their best possible outcomes,” Barger continued.

In summary, the substitute motion does the following:

  • Accepts the recommendation for Campus Kilpatrick to serve as the secure youth treatment facility for male youth.
  • Asks that any alternatives for placement of these youth be aligned with the recommendations in the Youth Justice Reimagined report (found here).
  • Instructs the Los Angeles County Probation Department to coordinate with the Youth Justice Advisory Committee and the Juvenile Justice Realignment Block Grant (JJRBG) Subcommittee to work with County Counsel, the CEO, Internal Services Department, and the Department of Public Works to initiate an assessment of all licensed facilities, rank the feasibility of each, and provide a report back to the Board in 60 days.
  • Asks the JJRBG Subcommittee, the L.A. County Department of Mental Health, and other stakeholders to develop a plan to move youth in temporary placements to permanent placements expeditiously.
  • Asks the JJRBG subcommittee to develop a plan with input from partners and providers to create supportive programming and a therapeutic environment for the youth.
  • Finally, the motion asks JJRBG subcommittee to submit funding recommendations to the Board in 75 days for the first allocation of the JJRBG funds and asks for a transition plan to be submitted within 90 days.

Supervisor Holly Mitchell pointed out that Camps Scott and Scudder had housed juvenile offenders up until as recently as 2020, only being depopulated in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

See Related: Board Of Supervisors Delays Vote On Revival Of Santa Clarita Juvenile Detention Camp

Supervisor Sheila Kuehl shared that she understood reluctance, but that she was disappointed in the negative reaction to the active reinstatement of Scudder and Scott, since the camps had already been well-established as homes for juveniles with “the highest degree of criminality” for several decades.

“I know that one of our unions and our probation department that represents supervisors in the apartment actually sent a letter to the City Council of Santa Clarita talking about horrible these young people are and how they should be very very afraid of them … I’m appalled that one of our supervisors in the probation department would dare to write a letter to a city council, raising the same kinds of fears about the very young people they are supposed to be protecting,” Kuehl said.

Barger, representing the Fifth District, which includes Santa Clarita Valley, noted that the final responsibility of the County is for the well-being of the juveniles who are placed into the system, and while a deadline must be met in order to keep up with state expectations, it must be done correctly.

“I want to emphasize that our job is to put together a plan that is going to meet the needs, not only of what the state is asking us to do but also the youth put in our care,” Barger said. “I have no preconceived notion as to where or what it will look like as it relates to location, but I can tell you that I think we have to exhaust all avenues.”

The Santa Clarita City Government has opposed the motion in previous meetings. In a meeting on June 23, the Santa Clarita City Council unanimously voted against the decision to renovate and reopen Camps Scott or Scutter, which are both out of function and located near residential areas.

“There are several serious reasons which make Camps Scott and Scudder unsuitable to house the juvenile offender population – the camps are in a fire and flood zone, within a few hundred feet of hundreds of homes and the camps would need serious renovations to be able to have the security upgrades necessary,” read a Tuesday morning social media post from the city encouraging members of the community to take part in Public Comment at the BOS meeting.

Santa Clarita City Council member Laurene Weste called in to the BOS meeting Tuesday to share her opinions on the decision, noting that Camps Scott and Scudder lay within the path of floodwaters should a major disaster occur that could cause the collapse of the Bouquet Canyon Dam, a mere 12 miles upstream from the camps in Saugus.

“It is critical that the proper environmental review and public outreach be conducted and incorporated prior to the adoption of the (Division of Juvenile Justice) plan,” Weste said.

To watch the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Meeting or read the agenda, click here.


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L.A. Board Of Supervisors Approves Substitute Motion For Santa Clarita Juvenile Camps Scott, Scudder

One comment

  1. Somebody Please please please inform the board of supervisors that the population that was supposed to be moved to Camp Scott and Camp Scutter are not juveniles they are not juveniles they are not juveniles they are adults they are over 18 years old they are not juveniles yes they used to house juveniles but not anymore these are 18 to 25 year old convicted felons!!!!! do you understand this!! Please stop referring to them as youth they are not youth anymore!!!!!!! Wake up and read what’s really going on please

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About Jade Aubuchon

A Santa Clarita native, Jade has spent her whole life involved in community outreach. After graduating from Learning Post High in 2015, she went on to College of the Canyons to pursue a double major in English and Marketing. Jade spent several years as a ballroom dance performer for a local studio and has performed at public and private events throughout Santa Clarita. As KHTS Co-News Director Jade oversees the KHTS news team, which covers all the latest news impacting Santa Clarita. Along with covering and writing her own news stories, Jade can be heard broadcasting the daily local news every weekday morning and afternoon drive-time twice an hour on KHTS 98.1FM and AM-1220. Jade is also instrumental in reporting on-the-scene local emergencies, covering them on-air and via Facebook Live and YouTube. Another dimension to Jade’s on-air skills and writing are her regular political and celebrity interviews, including her bi-monthly interview with our Congressman Mike Garcia and many other local politicians and community leaders.