Establishing a Care first pre-trial agency
Honorable members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors:
As a coalition committed to helping the County implement alternatives to incarceration and reimagine public safety, the Reimagine LA Coalition writes in strong support of Item 10 – Establishing a Care First Pretrial Agency: Maximizing the Impact of the Justice, Care and Opportunities Department (Mitchell), and urges your aye vote.
Establishing independent pretrial services was one of the foundation recommendations adopted by the Board in 2019, and it remains a critical strategy to reducing LA County’s massive jail population and finally closing the deadly Men’s Central Jail. Since 2020, the percentage of people incarcerated pretrial has increased to over 52% and the jail system remains just as deadly, as evidenced by the 13 deaths in Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department custody this year alone, half of which involved pretrial detainees. These deaths highlight the urgent need for systemic change to address the risks and inequities of pretrial detention.
Despite some progress through initiatives like the Rapid Diversion Program (RDP), which aims to redirect individuals with mental health and substance use issues away from jail and into community-based treatment, and the Public Defender’s early representation pilot program, which seeks to provide timely legal assistance to those facing pretrial detention, the county’s efforts and investments remain insufficient compared to the magnitude of the issue.
The limited scope and funding of these programs fail to address the broader systemic problems, such as racial disparities in pretrial detention, the over-reliance on cash bail, and the lack of comprehensive support services for those released pretrial. These challenges require more robust and sustained efforts to ensure fair and equitable treatment for all individuals involved in the pretrial process.
Establishing transparency and accountability mechanisms is crucial for the success of independent pretrial services. Providing a clear timeline, community oversight, and ensuring public access to pretrial data outcomes will boost trust in the process and expedite implementation.
Supervisor Mitchell’s directives in this motion are pragmatic first steps towards implementing pretrial services in an accountable and timely manner. Setting a timeline for JCOD’s implementation will ultimately guide the county’s next steps. Additionally, establishing a dedicated oversight and advisory body that includes community representatives, will help to ensure that the timeline is met and align implementation with the vision set by the transformative ATI report. We also strongly support public data collection and analysis of the current pretrial programs and outcomes to increase transparency about what is truly effective. Implementing data-informed solutions and best practices will strengthen LA County’s pretrial model.
An effective and independent Care First pretrial service model must center care and not surveillance.
People caught in the criminal legal system face dehumanization, are stripped of their agency, and are heavily surveilled by those meant to offer support, fostering great distrust of the current probation-led pretrial system and low service connection rates. Funding intended to be used for critical services is instead diverted into expanding harmful systems of surveillance. Establishing an independent pretrial services agency that mirrors the probation-led pretrial model will only replicate the same failed outcomes. Therefore, a new care-based pretrial system must reject any form of surveillance practices, including electronic monitoring, and embrace the proven best practices outlined in this motion — supportive services, independence, community collaboration, and regular evaluation. We urge the Board to make this distinction clear in future motions to both honor the foundational recommendations adopted in 2019, and to ensure that any programming developed within JCOD aligns with the Care First vision we all share.
Because Measure J funding is explicitly intended to support “pre-trial non-custody services and treatment,” it is imperative that the county not use this funding for anything outside of scope.
The Reimagine LA Coalition has advocated staunchly for the full implementation of Measure J, often referred to as Care First Community Investment. This mandate prohibits funneling funds through law enforcement agencies or for law enforcement activities for Measure J and CFCI programming. Any use of Measure J funding for the establishment of a Care First pretrial services agency must be used for community-based services and treatment, and not used for surveillance, including the use of electronic monitoring.
We’re committed to helping the county implement Care First pretrial services as quickly and effectively as possible, and we appreciate this opportunity to express our concerns and urge action in support of this motion. If you have any questions or would like more information regarding our support, please contact Megan Castillo at hello(at)reimagine.la.
Sincerely,
Megan Castillo, Coalition CoordinatorReimagine LA Coalition