Probation Officers Give Teens a Look inside Juvenile Hall

Members of our Probation department last Saturday gave a select group of high schoolers a look at life inside juvenile hall, helping the teens understand how the justice system handles kids who break the law and introducing participants to careers in juvenile justice.

The tour, which included a lockup and a juvenile hall lunch, was part of Juvenile Justice Day at the Kearny Mesa Detention Facility and Juvenile Court next door.

The teens were from the Aaron Price Fellows program, which gives a group of students from local high schools a close-up look at government, business, and culture over four years.

On Saturday, the Fellows learned about juvenile dependency court, foster children and juvenile delinquency court from a range of speakers who included Presiding Judge Cynthia Bashant and a young man who had been in trouble with the law.

Supervising Probation Officer Alfonso Oceguera explained the purpose of the Probation Department, how juvenile hall is different from the County’s other youth detention centers and the rehabilitative programs for kids in and out of custody.

Once inside the detention center, Probation staff amused and educated the kids, acting out life in juvenile hall. Some probation officers wore their regular uniforms, a few wore  standard-issue juvenile hall garb and played kids in custody.