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County to establish Probation Oversight Commission

WAVE NEWSPAPERS — Following up on a promise made nearly two years ago, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Oct. 1 to establish a Probation Oversight Commission with subpoena power through the Office of Inspector General. Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas first championed the probation watchdog to replace the longstanding Probation Commission.

Published

6 years ago

October 21, 2019

Oakland Post

Mark Ridley-Thomas

By Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas

LOS ANGELES — Following up on a promise made nearly two years ago, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Oct. 1 to establish a Probation Oversight Commission with subpoena power through the Office of Inspector General.

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas first championed the probation watchdog to replace the longstanding Probation Commission.

“Reforming the Probation Department has never been more urgent, with both youth and staff in our juvenile facilities reporting feeling unsafe,” he said. “Robust oversight of the largest and most complex department of its kind is long overdue and critical to the success of any reform.”

Any investigations will be conducted by the Office of Inspector General at the commission’s request and the Office of Inspector General will compel testimony and information on the new agency’s behalf.

Supervisor Hilda Solis co-authored the motion to set up the watchdog agency. County counsel still needs to draft an ordinance to establish the group and its powers. The board asked for a draft back in 45 days.

“The new Probation Oversight Commission will help guide the Probation Department toward positive culture change, reduced juvenile facilities, expanded and improved community services, and strengthened accountability and performance management,” Solis said.

Ridley-Thomas said he hoped the move would restore public trust in the department and dozens of youth justice advocates turned out to cheer the vote.

Those advocates also urged the board to give the commission enough staffing and funding to do its job.

Some, like Nicole Brown of the Urban Peace Institute, said they ultimately want to see a separate agency for youthful offenders, something the board is considering.

“Oversight … is an investment in our future,” Brown said.

Roughly nine out of 10 probation youth suffer from mental health issues, and the county’s probation reform and implementation team has recommended placing youthful offenders with an agency staffed with subject matter experts in mental health diagnosis, assessment, education and treatment.

California’s Division of Juvenile Justice has been moved out of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and into the Department of Health and Human Services.

Inspector General Max Huntsman expressed his support for the new watchdog agency and used the opportunity to take a shot at the Sheriff’s Department.

“As we’ve been reminded by events at the Sheriff’s Department in recent months, robust civilian oversight is critical for justice system fairness,” Huntsman said.

The Office of Inspector General has accused Sheriff Alex Villanueva and his department of failing to provide requested information, backing off of internal disciplinary investigations, and undermining various department policies. The department has launched a criminal investigation into the Office of Inspector General’s office based on its efforts to gain access to files they say are confidential.

Probation has had plenty of its own problems.

Ridley-Thomas first proposed a new watchdog agency in 2017, after receiving reports that juveniles were kept in solitary confinement despite the board’s move to severely restrict the practice. Around the same time, a deputy probation officer pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting girls as young as 15 at Camp Scudder.

In April of this year, six probation officers were charged with assault and/or cruelty for the allegedly illegal use of pepper spray on five teenage girls at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey.

The board voted earlier this year to phase out the use of oleoresin capsicum spray at juvenile camps and halls by the end of the year. Juvenile justice advocates say the use of pepper spray is unwarranted and amounts to child abuse, while some probation officers say they need it as a tool to protect themselves against physically aggressive juvenile offenders.

Officers have been vocal about feeling unsafe in workplaces plagued by violence and say they are understaffed, despite dramatic decreases in the number of youth in halls and camps, in part because colleagues are afraid to come to work.

The nine-member commission will have the power to inspect probation facilities without notice and is expected to set up an independent grievance process for the public and probationers, as well as a process for advising the board on systemic issues. Seats will be reserved for a person who has been an adult or youth probationer, a family member of someone who has been on probation, and a legal defense expert.

“For decades, probationers have been under the authority of a Probation Department with no oversight, and probationers have suffered from this lack of checks and balances,” said Susan Burton, founder of the justice advocacy group A New Way of Life. “I’m excited to see the board listen to the people and create a Probation Oversight Commission with teeth, and with the authority to compel the information it needs to ensure public safety as well as the health and well-being of the people of Los Angeles County.”

The Probation Department has a budget of almost $1 billion and supervisory responsibility for more than 40,000 adult clients and about 8,000 youth, more than 900 of whom are detained in county halls, camps and other facilities.

“Robust oversight of the largest and most complex department of its kind is long overdue and critical to the success of any reform.”

The article first appeared in The Los Angeles Sentinel

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LIVE from the NMA Convention Raheem DeVaughn Says The Time Is Now: Let’s End HIV in Our Communities #2

Set against the backdrop of the NMA conference, Executive Officers from the National Medical Association, Grammy Award Winning Artist and Advocate Raheem DeVaughn, and Gilead Sciences experts, are holding today an important conversation on HIV prevention and health equity. Black women continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV despite advances in prevention options. Today’s event […]

Published

3 days ago

February 3, 2026

Oakland Post

Black women continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV despite advances in prevention options. Today’s event is designed to uplift voices, explore barriers to access, and increase awareness and key updates about PrEP, a proven prevention method that remains underutilized among Black women. This timely gathering will feature voices from across health, media, and advocacy as we break stigma and center equity in HIV prevention.

Additional stats and information to know:

● Black women continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV, with Black women representing more than 50% of new HIV diagnoses among women in the U.S. in 2022, despite comprising just 13% of women in the U.S.

● Women made up only 8% of PrEP users despite representing 19% of all new HIV diagnoses in 2022.

● Gilead Sciences is increasing awareness and addressing stigma by encouraging regular HIV testing and having judgment-free conversations with your healthcare provider about prevention options, including oral PrEP and long-acting injectable PrEP options.

● PrEP is an HIV prevention medication that has been available since 2012.

● Only 1 in 3 people in the U.S. who could benefit from PrEP were prescribed a form of PrEP in 2022.

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TRUMP: “Washington, D.C. is Safe”

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — President Trump, who typically travels with a full contingent of high-level protection, insinuated that he finally felt safe enough to go to dinner in the District of Columbia. “My wife and I went out to dinner last night for the first time in four years,” said the nation’s 47th president.

Published

3 days ago

February 3, 2026

Oakland Post

By Apriil Ryan
BlackPressUSA Washington Bureau Chief and White House Correspondent

“Washington, D.C. is safe,” President Trump declared from the Oval Office today. Those words came while Trump was hosting Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. During the question-and-answer session, which primarily focused on a peace deal in the Russian-Ukrainian war, Trump explained, “You did that in four days.” He was speaking of how fast the National Guard quelled the violence in what was once called Chocolate City.

The President deployed the National Guard to D.C. a week ago, to a city with reduced crime rates over the previous year. Violent crime dropped by 26%, marking the lowest level in 30 years. Homicides also fell by 11%.

President Trump, who typically travels with a full contingent of high-level protection, insinuated that he finally felt safe enough to go to dinner in the District of Columbia. “My wife and I went out to dinner last night for the first time in four years,” said the nation’s 47th president.

Trump reinforced his claim about the newly acquired safety in D.C. by relaying that a friend’s son is attending dinner in D.C., something he would not have done last year.

After the president finished his comments, a reporter/commentator in the room with close connections to Marjorie Taylor Greene jumped into the high-level conversation to affirm the president’s comments, saying, “I walked around yesterday with MTG. If you can walk around D.C. with MTG and not be attacked, this city is safe.”

That reporter was the same person who chastised President Zelenskyy months ago during his first Oval Office meeting with Trump for not wearing a business suit. Zelenskyy, a wartime President, has been clad in less formal attire to reflect the country’s current war stance against Russia.

Without any sourcing, President Trump also said, “People that haven’t gone out to dinner in Washington, D.C., in two years are going out to dinner, and the restaurants the last two days have been busier than they’ve been in a long time.”

The increase in policing in Washington, D.C. is because a 19-year-old former Doge employee was carjacked in the early hours of the morning recently.

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Rising Energy Costs Weigh Heaviest on Black Households

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — For many African American families, the cost of keeping the lights on and homes heated or cooled is not just a monthly bill — it’s a crushing financial burden.

Published

3 days ago

February 3, 2026

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

For many African American families, the cost of keeping the lights on and homes heated or cooled is not just a monthly bill — it’s a crushing financial burden.

A new national study from Binghamton University and California State University, San Bernardino, finds that Black households spend a far larger share of their income on energy compared to white households, even when income levels are the same. “We often say that African Americans suffer more, but we often blame it just on income. And the reality is, there is something more there,” study author George Homsy, associate professor at Binghamton University, wrote. “It’s not just because they tend to be poor. There is something that’s putting them at a disadvantage. I think what happened is it happens to be where they live.” The study, published in Energy Research & Social Science, analyzed 65,000 census tracts across the United States. It found that while the average American household spends about 3.2% of income on energy bills, households in the majority African American census tracts spend an average of 5.1%.

Homsy and researcher Ki Eun Kang point to the age and condition of housing stock, along with lower homeownership rates, as key drivers. Their research concludes that “energy burden is not simply a matter of income or energy cost but also race, which might be driven by place.” Older, less energy-efficient housing and high rental rates in Black communities mean residents often cannot make upgrades like improved insulation or new appliances, locking families into higher bills.

Tradeoffs and Health Risks

The consequences go beyond money. Families forced to spend 10% or more of their income on energy — what experts classify as “unmanageable” — may cut back on food, medicine, or other essentials. More than 12 million U.S. households report leaving their homes at unsafe temperatures to reduce costs, while millions more fall behind on utility bills. The health effects are severe. High energy burdens increase risks of asthma, depression, poor sleep, pneumonia, and even premature death. The issue is especially acute for African Americans, who are disproportionately exposed to housing and environmental conditions that amplify these risks.

Washington, D.C.: A Case Study

In Washington, D.C., the problem is particularly stark. A recent analysis by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) shows that SNAP-eligible households spend more than 20% of their income on energy bills. Across the metro area, nearly two-thirds of low-income households devote over 6% of their income to energy, and 40% face what researchers call a “severe financial strain,” paying more than 10%. Pepco, the District’s primary electricity provider, has implemented three consecutive annual rate hikes, pushing the average household bill to $114 per month as of January 2025. Shutoffs have followed — nearly 12,000 customers lost service in 2024, with disconnections doubling after a summer rate hike. Washington Gas has also sought a 12% rate increase and pushed a controversial $215 million pipeline replacement project, rebranded as “District SAFE.” The plan could ultimately cost D.C. households an additional $45,000 each over several decades, or nearly $1,000 annually added to bills.

Historical Roots

Researchers argue that these inequities are not accidental but rooted in history. The ScienceDirect study reveals that African American communities living in formerly redlined neighborhoods continue to face disadvantages today — from poor housing quality to higher climate risks. Homsy says policymakers must make targeted efforts. “It is harder to get to rental units where a lot of poor people live,” he noted. “We need to work harder to get into these communities of color.”