Published by New York Times
Arabella Guevara spent much of her adolescence paying for her mistakes.
She entered the juvenile justice system at 13, after she ran away from home for the first time, hoping to escape a volatile relationship with her mother. Before long, running away escalated to petty theft, then stealing cars and breaking into homes. It cost her nearly two years spent in and out of juvenile facilities, and many additional months still tied to the system through probation.
After a judge approved a plan earlier this month to begin clearing out the troubled Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall, the Los Angeles County Probation Department says it has begun the process of transferring incarcerated young people between camps to prepare for the transition.
In the days since the news broke that Los Angeles County had agreed to pay $4 billion to nearly 7,000 people who were victims of sexual abuse while locked in juvenile detention facilities or child welfare group homes, …
Monday’s celebration, which included a performance from Monarcas — the first Latina transgender dance group in the South Bay — took place ahead of the Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31.
