Community

Working group explores changes in county justice system

WAVE NEWSPAPERS — If Los Angeles County hopes to create a “care first, jail last” system of justice, it will need to make a major investment in mental health and community-based services, a county working group told the Board of Supervisors June 11. Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said the county was aiming to reshape its approach to criminal justice.

Published

7 years ago

June 16, 2019

Oakland Post

By County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas

LOS ANGELES — If Los Angeles County hopes to create a “care first, jail last” system of justice, it will need to make a major investment in mental health and community-based services, a county working group told the Board of Supervisors June 11.

Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said the county was aiming to reshape its approach to criminal justice.

“If not ‘no more jails,’ then fewer and fewer people in jails,” Kuehl said of the board’s goal.

The Alternatives to Incarceration Work Group, chaired by Robert Ross, president and CEO of the California Endowment, set 14 goals and offered more than 100 recommendations as part of its 90-day interim report.

“The board is on the right track,” Ross told the Board of Supervisors. “What you’re hearing is ‘move farther, push harder.’”

Another work group member spoke to a cycle of arrest and re-arrest among the county’s most vulnerable residents.

“If you are someone in Los Angeles County struggling with mental health, substance use or housing needs, you are met with systems that do not have the capacity to adequately support you, and you then end up in our hospitals, jails or on our streets,” said Eunisses Hernandez, of JustLeadershipUSA, a nonprofit which aims to cut the nationwide jail and prison population in half by 2030.

The need to significantly build capacity for mental health and substance abuse treatment, as well as related programs, was highlighted by multiple members of the work group, who said it means hiring more mental health professionals to coordinate with law enforcement, opening more community mental health urgent care centers and substance abuse treatment facilities, as well as providing more housing services and pathways to jobs.

“We must stop releasing people from the jail into homelessness,” the report quoted a member of law enforcement as saying.

Despite points of contention between various constituencies in the group, which has 26 voting members, Hernandez said the work represents an “unprecedented community engagement process” and seemed optimistic that the report would impact policy.

County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas praised the working group’s report.

“They are putting together a roadmap that centers care and treatment as the primary priority, and incarceration as a tool of last resort,” he said. “For the system, it represents a shift in paradigm to a care first ethos that internalizes the challenges faced by our justice-involved system.”

Ross declined to prioritize the various recommendations in the report — which include rerouting 911 calls related to mental health issues away from law enforcement, a commitment to pretrial release and expanding the use of conservatorships for severely mentally ill individuals — but cited one big idea when pressed.

“We need a network of restorative villages around the county,” Ross said, telling the board the notion has been “road-tested” at Martin Luther King Jr. Medical Center, but more centers are needed “[to] begin to show … what true healing looks like at the community level.”

Members of the group highlighted race as a factor.

“The people locked up in Los Angeles County, as everywhere in America, are disproportionately black and brown,” said Kelly Lytle Hernandez, director of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA. “We are committed to acknowledging, studying and dismantling [the] legacies of systemic racism.”

Activists have for years told the county “no new jails.” They argue that the board’s latest proposal, a $2.2 billion “mental health treatment system” to replace the Men’s Central Jail, is too massive to be effective and should be abandoned in favor of smaller community centers.

Brian Kaneda of Californians United for a Responsible Budget told the supervisors the treatment facility is “a building that will effectively function as a jail by another name.”

The work group intentionally did not take a position on the downtown center, though Ross said in a letter prefacing the report that community leaders believe it “appears to run counter to the vision of a community-based, care-first, integrated system of care.”

Peter Eliasberg of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California called the work group’s objectives and the mental health treatment center “two entirely incompatible visions,” noting the treatment center already “has an inside track” to funding.

Shifting focus and resources from jails to the community will be an expensive proposition that will take roughly seven to 10 years to effectively scale, according to Ross and Dr. Christina Ghaly, who heads the county hospital system.

“Who pays for it and what are we getting for that money?” asked Supervisor Hilda Solis.

Ghaly said the answer was complicated and didn’t guess at a price tag, but offered some insights. Medicaid funding, for example, cannot be used to pay for mental health care for jail inmates, but if those same individuals were in community-based treatment, federal funding could cover 50-90% of the costs, she said.

Kuehl said she wasn’t willing to let federal or state officials “off the hook” when it comes to investing in alternatives to jail.

However, Eliasberg said it was time for the board to make a big financial commitment of its own.

Even if it made any sense to build a 3,885-bed facility — three times the size of California’s largest mental health hospital — the board cannot afford to fund both plans and will starve the Alternatives to Incarceration plan if it proceeds with construction downtown, the civil rights advocate said.

“They’ve got to put their money where their mouths are,” Eliasberg told City News Service.

Models for what the county can accomplish can be found in Portugal, Italy and Scandinavia, according to the report. In the U.S., the city of New York and several states, including New Jersey, Ohio, Kentucky and Missouri, have successfully implemented innovative changes, but have struggled to scale their impact.

Ross urged the county not to wait for others to act, predicting that change in this arena will come from a series of local and regional efforts, rather than at the federal level.

A final report is scheduled for December

“They are putting together a roadmap that centers care and treatment as the primary priority, and incarceration as a tool of last resort.”

This article originally appeared in Wave Newspapers.

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Oakland Post: Week of December 24 – 30, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – December 24 – 30, 2025

Published

18 hours ago

December 25, 2025

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

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Alameda County

Bling It On: Holiday Lights Brighten Dark Nights All Around the Bay

On the block where I grew up in the 1960s, it was an unwritten agreement among the owners of those row homes to put up holiday lights: around the front window and door, along the porch banister, etc. Some put the Christmas tree in the window, and you could see it through the open slats of the blinds.

Published

5 days ago

December 21, 2025

Oakland Post

Christmas lights on a house near the writer’s residence in Oakland. Photo by Joseph Shangosola.

By Wanda Ravernell

I have always liked Christmas lights.

From my desk at my front window, I feel a quiet joy when the lights on the house across the street come on just as night falls.

My father, the renegade of the block, made no effort with lights, so my mother hung a wreath with two bells in the window. Just enough to let you know someone was at home.

Two doors down was a different story. Mr. King, the overachiever of the block, went all out for Christmas: The tree in the window, the lights along the roof and a Santa on his sleigh on the porch roof.

There are a few ‘Mr. Kings’ in my neighborhood.

In particular is the gentleman down the street. For Halloween, they erected a 10-foot skeleton in the yard, placed ‘shrunken heads’ on fence poles, pumpkins on steps and swooping bat wings from the porch roof. They have not held back for Christmas.

The skeleton stayed up this year, this time swathed in lights, as is every other inch of the house front. It is a light show that rivals the one in the old Wanamaker’s department store in Philadelphia.

I would hate to see their light bill…

As the shortest day of the year approaches, make Mr. King’s spirit happy and get out and see the lights in your own neighborhood, shopping plazas and merchant areas.

Here are some places recommended by 510 Families and Johnny FunCheap.

Oakland

Oakland’s Temple Hill Holiday Lights and Gardens is the place to go for a drive-by or a leisurely stroll for a religious holiday experience. Wear a jacket, because it’s chilly outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, at 4220 Lincoln Ave., particularly after dark. The gardens are open all day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. with the lights on from dusk until closing.

Alameda

Just across the High Street Bridge from Oakland, you’ll find Christmas Tree Lane in Alameda.

On Thompson Avenue between High Street and Fernside drive, displays range from classic trees and blow-ups to a comedic response to the film “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Lights turn on at dusk and can be seen through the first week in January.

Berkeley

The Fourth Street business district from University Avenue to Virginia Street in Berkeley comes alive with lights beginning at 5 p.m. through Jan. 1, 2026.

There’s also a display at one house at 928 Arlington St., and, for children, the Tilden Park Carousel Winter Wonderland runs through Jan. 4, 2026. Closed Christmas Day. For more information and tickets, call (510) 559-1004.

Richmond

The Sundar Shadi Holiday Display, featuring a recreation of the town of Bethlehem with life-size figures, is open through Dec. 26 at 7501 Moeser Lane in El Cerrito.

Marin County

In Marin, the go-to spot for ‘oohs and ahhs’ is the Holiday Light Spectacular from 4-9 p.m. through Jan. 4, 2026, at Marin Center Fairgrounds at 10 Ave of the Flags in San Rafael through Jan. 4. Displays dazzle, with lighted walkways and activities almost daily. For more info, go to: www.marincounty.gov/departments/cultural-services/department-sponsored-events/holiday-light-spectacular

The arches at Marin County Civic Center at 3501 Civic Center Dr. will also be illuminated nightly.

San Francisco

Look for light installations in Golden Gate Park, chocolate and cheer at Ghirardelli Square, and downtown, the ice rink in Union Square and the holiday tree in Civic Center Plaza are enchanting spots day and night. For neighborhoods, you can’t beat the streets in Noe Valley, Pacific Heights, and Bernal Heights. For glee and over-the-top glitz there’s the Castro, particularly at 68 Castro Street.

Livermore

The winner of the 2024 Great Light Flight award, Deacon Dave has set up his display with a group of creative volunteers at 352 Hillcrest Avenue since 1982. See it through Jan. 1, 2026. For more info, go to https://www.casadelpomba.com

Fremont

Crippsmas Place is a community of over 90 decorated homes with candy canes passed out nightly through Dec. 31. A tradition since 1967, the event features visits by Mr. and Mrs. Claus on Dec. 18 and Dec. 23 and entertainment by the Tri-M Honor Society at 6 p.m. on Dec. 22. Chrippsmas Place is located on: Cripps Place, Asquith Place, Nicolet Court, Wellington Place, Perkins Street, and the stretch of Nicolet Avenue between Gibraltar Drive and Perkins Street.

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Activism

Lu Lu’s House is Not Just Toying Around with the Community

Wilson and Lambert will be partnering with Mayor Barbara Lee on a toy giveaway on Dec. 20. Young people, like Dremont Wilkes, age 15, will help give away toys and encourage young people to stay in school and out of trouble. Wilkes wants to go to college and become a specialist in financial aid. Sports agent Aaron Goodwin has committed to giving all eight young people from Lu Lu’s House a fully paid free ride to college, provided they keep a 3.0 grade point average and continue the program. Lu Lu’s House is not toying around.

Published

5 days ago

December 20, 2025

Oakland Post

Tania Fuller Bryant, Zirl Wilson, Dremont Wilkes, Tracy Lambert and Dr. Geoffrey Watson. Courtesy Oakland Private Industry

Special to the Post

Lu Lu’s House is a 501c3 organization based in Oakland, founded by Mr. Zirl Wilson and Mr. Tracy Lambert, both previously incarcerated. After their release from jail, they wanted to change things for the better in the community — and wow, have they done that!

The duo developed housing for previously incarcerated people, calling it “Lu Lu’s House,” after Wilson’s wonderful wife. At a time when many young people were robbing, looting, and involved in shootings, Wilson and Lambert took it upon themselves to risk their lives to engage young gang members and teach them about nonviolence, safety, cleanliness, business, education, and the importance of health and longevity.

Lambert sold hats and T-shirts at the Eastmont Mall and was visited by his friend Wilson. At the mall, they witnessed gangs of young people running into the stores, stealing whatever they could get their hands on and then rushing out. Wilson tried to stop them after numerous robberies and finally called the police, who Wilson said, “did not respond.” Having been incarcerated previously, they realized that if the young people were allowed to continue to rob the stores, they could receive multiple criminal counts, which would take their case from misdemeanors to felonies, resulting in incarceration.

Lu Lu’s House traveled to Los Angeles and obtained more than 500 toys
for a Dec. 20 giveaway in partnership with Oakland Mayor Barbara
Lee. Courtesy Oakland Private Industry,

Wilson took it upon himself to follow the young people home and when he arrived at their subsidized homes, he realized the importance of trying to save the young people from violence, drug addiction, lack of self-worth, and incarceration — as well as their families from losing subsidized housing. Lambert and Wilson explained to the young men and women, ages 13-17, that there were positive options which might allow them to make money legally and stay out of jail. Wilson and Lambert decided to teach them how to wash cars and they opened a car wash in East Oakland. Oakland’s Initiative, “Keep the town clean,” involved the young people from Lu Lu’s House participating in more than eight cleanup sessions throughout Oakland. To assist with their infrastructure, Lu Lu’s House has partnered with Oakland’s Private Industry Council.

For the Christmas season, Lu Lu’s House and reformed young people (who were previously robbed) will continue to give back.

Lu Lu’s House traveled to Los Angeles and obtained more than 500 toys.