The Ventura County Juvenile Facilities complex sits on a 45 acre parcel in an unincorporated area of the county near the community of El Rio. It is located at 4333 Vineyard Avenue, Oxnard, CA 93036. The Ventura County Probation Agency’s state of the art detention and commitment facility was completed in 2003 at a cost of $65 million. Primary funding for the facility was a $40.5 million grant from the California Board of Corrections. The total capacity of the facility is 420 male and female youth. The detention component capacity is 240 and the commitment component capacity 180.

In addition to the housing components, Juvenile Facilities include outdoor recreation areas for both detention and commitment programs, a multipurpose gymnasium/technology training center, a visiting center, medical offices and examination rooms, an intake/community confinement/booking area, classrooms, program and facility administration offices, kitchen and laundry services. Staff has locker rooms with showers, and a dining room. A juvenile courthouse with six courtrooms is located adjacent to the Juvenile Facilities.

Youth under our care are provided constructive individual and group activities within the facilities. Educational programming includes Providence School, an accredited school program administered by the County Superintendent of Schools. The County of Ventura’s Behavioral Health Department provides psychiatric and crisis intervention services as well as group, individual, and family therapy within the facility. The California Forensic Medical Group provides medical services under contract with the County.

Cognitive behavior therapy programming is provided by probation staff and community based organizations. These programs include a gang intervention program, a gender specific program for females (Girls Inc.), and a problem solving/social skills program. Additional programming includes: a tolerance program, parenting classes, tutoring, anger management, substance abuse counseling, chess, music and dance programs.

Since 2002, the Probation Agency has participated in the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative, a grant funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF). The AECF is dedicated to reforming juvenile detention practices. In collaboration with the juvenile court judges, local law enforcement, public defender and district attorney’s office, the population was safely reduced utilizing risk-based criteria for booking and detention alternatives including community confinement, home supervision, and electronic monitoring programs.