Juvenile Hall Replacement Project

Initial Drawings of Replacement Facility

HISTORY

The existing Juvenile Hall was constructed in the late 1960s and was first occupied in 1970. While it will have served our county well for nearly 50 years the facility life cycle has come to an end as the programs and services needed for today’s youth has changed.  In addition, the current state of the existing Juvenile Hall is no longer safe for youth or employees due to physical plant limitations for youth supervision and programming as well as physical deterioration resulting in ongoing unrealistic maintenance expectations.

The long-term vision of creating a facility to better serve our youth who have found their way into juvenile hall is an investment in both Humboldt County's youth and its employees who will work with the youth. Though some youth will find their way into juvenile hall they are still in need some education and other programming and will now receive it in a setting conducive to learning while maintaining a safe and secure atmosphere. 

CONSTRUCTION INFORMATION


Schedule


The Humboldt County Juvenile Hall Replacement Facility Project will begin construction on April 3, 2017 and will be completed in two phases.  Phase I of the project (building of structures) will take up to 360 days and will be completed in April 2018, at that time all youth and staff will move into the new facility.  Phase II (razing existing Juvenile Hall to install outside recreation space) will take 140 days and the entire project is scheduled to be completed August 16, 2018.  

Contractors


The contract was awarded to Hal Hays Construction, Inc. of Riverside, CA on September 8, 2016; the total project contract is $15,338,000.  There are six local subcontractors working on this project under the general contractor Hal Hays Construction, Inc.

FUNDING


The total project cost is $15,338,000. Lease-revenue bond funding from the state totals $12,930,869. The remaining project cost is derived from various funding approved by the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors.
Funding the project was made possible by California Senate Bill 81 Youthful Offender Rehabilitative Facilities Construction Funding Program which made available to California Counties up to $100 million in funding through lease-revenue bonds for county youthful offender rehabilitative facility construction, expansion, or renovation projects.  Eligible facilities included new construction for county juvenile halls. There was a $30 million set-aside for small counties such as Humboldt County; our grant was submitted in January 2009, but it was not funded at that time.
On October 19, 2010 California Assembly Bill 1628 was signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger authorizing a $200 million augmentation in lease-revenue bond financing to the Local Youthful Offender Rehabilitative Facilities Construction Financing Program resulting in a funding opportunity for Humboldt County.  On December 1, 2010 the Humboldt County Probation Department received written notification of a conditional award for the construction of a youthful offender rehabilitative facility (lease-revenue bond funding described above).

FACILITY FEATURES


Size/capacity


The new Juvenile Hall will be constructed primarily of CMU (concrete masonry unit) and will be approximately 19,000 square feet.  It will have thirty (30) beds with six (6) single-bed youth sleeping rooms and twelve (12) double-bed youth sleeping rooms.

Functions


The space for medical services will be state-of-the-art to serve the physical health-related issues of our population.  The facility will have a modern kitchen adjacent to a multipurpose room where cooks can serve food to youth cafeteria style.  The multipurpose room will also be used for contact visits for parents and youth.
Further, the multipurpose room can be used for Probation Department training courses and as a backup Emergency Operations Center (EOC) for Humboldt County. The facility site is elevated from potential floods and tsunamis and will be constructed with ample electrical, telephone, and network outlets to adequately accommodate a sizable team for long periods of time with the help of the adjacent kitchen and a facility staff locker room with bathrooms and showers. The new facility will have sufficient mental health program space for youth in custody and two classrooms for additional space needed for routine and special educational programming.

Staffing


To operate the new Juvenile Hall 24 hours a day, seven days a week the Juvenile Corrections Officer staffing will be exactly as it is currently with four (4) Supervising Juvenile Corrections Officers, four (4) Senior Juvenile Corrections Officers, and an additional 6.4 full time equivalency Juvenile Corrections Officer I/II.  This meets minimum staffing ratios for up to a thirty (30) bed facility.  The Humboldt County Office of Education provides a full time teacher, full time aid, and support services as needed for special education, health, alcohol and other drug staff, and school psychologist hours.  The Department of Health and Human Services; Mental Health Branch provides a half-time clinician, children's psychiatrist, and psychiatric nurse support as needed to see youth in Juvenile Hall. 

Partners

After many years of planning and hard work with the help of other County entities such as Public Works, County Counsel, County Administrative Office, and our Board of Supervisors the Probation Department is proud of the Juvenile Hall that will be delivered to the citizens of Humboldt County for future generations.  Thank you all for attending this momentous occasion.