Camp Scott

About 20 years ago, Leslie Acoca was sitting in a California courtroom, waiting to testify as an expert witness in court. What she saw changed the course of her life. That day, Acoca watched a young woman, barely five feet tall and eight and a half months pregnant, waddle into the courtroom, fully shackled.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will explore the possibility of remodeling one of its juvenile detention camps in order to emphasize a therapeutic model of rehabilitation. At its meeting today, the board asked Interim Chief Probation Officer Cal Remington, Los Angeles County Chief Executive Officer Sachi Hamai and the Department of Public Works to submit a report that would outline the costs of transforming Camp Joseph Scott into a place that “embodies a culture of care to enhance therapeutic opportunities for youth and improve their future.”