The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to eliminate the use of chemical spray in all county juvenile probation facilities by December 2019.
For the past two years, CDF-CA has been working with advocates across the state to implement both statewide and local prohibitions against the traumatic, harmful and inhumane use of chemical spray against our incarcerated young people. The February vote brings LA County in line with 35 other states and four other California counties who already ban chemical spray in their facilities. The harmful nature of chemical spray makes its use barbaric and counterproductive to the rehabilitative goals of the juvenile justice system.
Details on the degrading use of chemical spray in LA County (including the spraying of a youth engaged in self-harming behavior) can be found in a recent investigative report by the Los Angeles County Office of Inspector General. CDF-CA lauds the bold actions of the LA County Board of Supervisors and looks forward to working with the Los Angeles Probation Department and other stakeholders to implement the mandated ban in a way that protects the safety of both youth and staff.
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Statement from Children’s Defense Fund–California on the American Health Care Act Vote
In response to the passage of the American Health Care Act, Alison Buist, National Child Health Director for Children's Defense Fund–California, issued this statement: "Today, House Republican leaders bullied their way to a vote on a bill that will reverse half a century of progress in covering children and families while giving a massive tax cut to America's wealthiest individuals and corporations. By passing the American Health Care Act that destroys Medicaid's guarantee of health coverage for poor and disabled children, including more than half of all children in California, we will turn the clock back to the bad old days of insurance discrimination, debt, and even death. The American Health Care Act is a bad deal for kids and a bad deal for California." Media Contact Cadonna Dory cdory@childrensdefense.org o: (213) 355-8790 // c: (323) 385-6342 [...]