Help us transform the world’s largest probation department!

The mission of the Los Angeles County Probation Department is to “rebuild lives,” but decades of systemic failures have harmed thousands of people and wasted billions of taxpayer dollars. LA County houses the largest Probation Department in the world, with a budget exceeding one billion dollars and over 47,000 youth and adults under supervision. Recognizing the deep issues faced by the Department, the LA County Board of Supervisors moved to create the nation’s first Probation Oversight Commission.

This Commission will be tasked with reforming a massive and troubled department, and it needs strong powers and staffing to get the job done! We need your support to ensure the Commission has the powers it needs to ensure change.

The need for transformation in the Probation Department can be seen through Sandra’s story. Sandra Blanco is a native of South Central Los Angeles and is a mother of four children, three with autism. She was first put on probation in 2011 for a small identity theft charge, yet spent several days in jail, was given 480 hours of community service and three years on probation. Due to economic hardships, lack of family support and emotional stress, she began using drugs and caught a minor substance abuse charge. For this she spent 44 days in jail and was sentenced to another five years of Probation supervision. Sandra had to pay over $3,500 towards restitution and probation fees, creating serious problems in her life both economically and emotionally. Over eight years of Probation supervision, Sandra never received the support she needed from the Department. Only with support from Community Coalition, a community-based organization, was Sandra finally able to receive the support of her community and advocate for positive changes in her neighborhood.

We urge you to sign this petition if you believe stories like Sandra’s should not be real. LA County should invest in services that rebuild lives, rather than ineffective punishment that holds people back. We need a strong Probation Oversight Commission to make that change!

LA County's probation system disproportionately harms Black youth and adults. Although African-American youth make up just six percent of the county’s juvenile population, they are 36 percent of the county’s probation population. Black youth are at least 14 times more likely than white youth to be on probation. Of every 100,000 white youth in the county, only 13 are on probation; for Latino youth it’s 36 and for Black youth it’s 185.

The Probation Department's massive budget is in desperate need of oversight. This year Probation received $1 billion, with 77 percent going to salaries and benefits rather than providing services. LA County Probation’s budget has grown by $282 million over ten years. That’s an average growth of $77,000 per day for the last decade. This money comes from our taxes! Despite this massive budget, the Probation Department collects burdensome fines and fees which only make life harder for poor and working class people.

The Los Angeles County Probation Department needs independent public oversight if we expect our communities to heal from decades of dysfunction. LA County needs lasting change to improve transparency and provide people on probation with safety, dignity, and humanity. Youth trapped in the juvenile justice system should be removed from the purview of Probation and transferred to a Youth Development Department that provides appropriate and effective care. Until that happens, LA County immediately needs a Probation Oversight Commission with strong powers, ample resources, and meaningful community representation.

A strong and well-staffed Probation Oversight Commission is an investment for our future because it will improve broken systems and ineffective programming. Increased oversight will end practices that exacerbate recidivism, improve financial management, and help mitigate litigation risks. The Commission should have the following four powers to be a truly effective oversight body. These powers are interlocking--without one, the others don't work:

1) Power to conduct independent inspections and to investigate grievances;
2) Power to subpoena needed documents and testimony;
3) Power and resources needed to harness meaningful community representation and expertise;
4) Power to review policy and budget and to recommend changes.

Sign this petition to tell the LA County Board of Supervisors that we need real Probation oversight, which means a commission with strong powers, robust staff, and meaningful community representation.