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A clarification has been made to this story. See note below.
Nine young inmates at the Santa Clara County juvenile ward and ranch, and four staff members, tested positive for COVID-19 last week, officials said on Wednesday, ending a nine-month period since the start of the pandemic with no known infection. transmissions in juvenile detention.
In a press release, the county gave two dates when the infections became known: Saturday, when a person detained at William James Ranch in Morgan Hill tested positive, and Monday, when a boy detained at Juvenile Hall started showing symptoms and later tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
The county’s announcement did not specify how the virus ended up in the two locations, only saying it was “investigating the source of the exposures and will make necessary improvements to its protocols.” Juvenile Hall is located in San Jose along Guadalupe Parkway near West Hedding Street, and the ranch, an unlocked facility, is located northeast of Morgan Hill.
The revelation of the positive tests led to tests for all 51 men held at Juvenile Hall, with 14-day quarantines for those who have had close contact with any of the infected inmates or staff. All of the ranch’s youth – 22 boys and 2 girls – are all tested, according to the county probation department, which operates the two sites.
The sudden spike came as a surprise to County Public Defender Molly O’Neal, given how the probation service has kept the operation from spreading so far. But she also admitted that it was unreasonable to expect this to last indefinitely.
“It really reflects what is happening in the community in general and in the rest of the country,” she said. “It is spreading like wildfire.”
Although there have been positive tests for COVID-19 in its youth prison population in the past, the county statement said last week was the first clear sign in nine months that the virus had spread through the installations.
Richy Loyola, whose son is being held at Juvenile Hall, said he was first informed of the cases of infection by this news agency and that Wednesday afternoon received no notification regarding the status of his son or a possible exhibition. The county said in its statement that officials had “notified all caregivers of young people who had tested positive.”
“It’s alarming because I haven’t even been contacted to let us know it’s happened, to make sure he’s okay,” Loyola said. “To share with us the precautions they take and to relieve us.”
Loyola said these concerns are compounded by limited contact with his son, as visiting hours occur while he is at work, leaving him to settle for periodic Zoom video calls.
“Our children are in a closed environment and we have no power to bring them home,” he said.
As the risks and outbreaks of COVID-19 in California prisons and prisons have gained media and political attention, young inmates have received less attention, even as the state seeks to pass its youth incarceration infrastructure from a correctional model to a model focused on public health. .
O’Neal said the seriousness of the virus cases in custody among young offenders should not be ignored by the public.
“Children are different from adults. They are more vulnerable and do not have the same skills to deal with adverse circumstances, ”she said. “We try to identify the children who don’t have much time for their engagement and who are doing well. We have to get them out of there. “
The new cases of youth detention have surfaced as the county issued tough new quarantine and travel restrictions, and strong admonitions over gatherings, in light of record peaks of COVID-19 and declining capacity of hospitals. In county jails, authorities have reported 209 cases of detention since March.
Charisse Domingo, a Silicon Valley De-Bug organizer, worked with parents of incarcerated teens who demanded the full-scale release of their children, especially those in minimum security facilities, arguing that COVID-19 is at risk to bring them together. allow certain penalties and reductions in employment.
“It’s shocking. Who exposes these young people to COVID? ” she says. “Having an outbreak in a space that is already confined is frightening.”
The county acknowledged the request, saying the probation department “is working with its partners in the justice system to assess whether other young people can be safely released to further reduce the risk of transmission in Juvenile Hall.”
O’Neal said Wednesday’s news should be more than the push to speed up this process, especially for those whose engagement deadline is expiring.
“Keeping them locked up for the sake of saying ‘You owe me 30 more days’ is outrageous and dangerous,” she said. “And if they’re sick, really sick children shouldn’t be in jail. They should be with their families. “
Clarification: December 2, 2020 An earlier version of this article stated that in nine months no case of COVID-19 had been detected in youth detention centers in Santa Clara County; this period indicated how long the county had gone without any cases indicating that the virus had been transmitted to these establishments.
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