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Numerous community groups and agencies involved in San Mateo County’s juvenile offender programs and services spoke at the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday, Aug. 25, in a town hall about the need for coordination between agencies and areas for improvement.
The county’s Chief Probation Officer John Keene kicked off the lengthy study session with a presentation he hoped would debunk negative perceptions that have circulated regarding the conditions of the Youth Services Center, the county’s detention facility for juvenile offenders.Â
At a board meeting earlier this month where the study session was originally scheduled but got delayed, some members of the public spoke out and characterized the center as having a harsh atmosphere and unkempt facilities.Â
“I’m very happy for the opportunity to really have a broad conversation about the state of the system, the state of where we are, but also to level set and hopefully reset some of the narratives and information that’s been kind of put out into the ether, which I think has had a detrimental impact on the work itself,” Keene said to the board.
Keene said that the population in the facility has remained steady in recent years with around 30 people at a time, and that the probation department follows strict criteria on deciding who to admit. Usually only youth accused of committing serious or violent felonies are taken to the center, and many youth offenders are on home detention instead.
“I’ve heard people say that Probation incarcerates kids,” Keene said. “That’s not our function. We don’t go out on the street and scoop kids up off the street.”
Keene also outlined data on instances of violence or other violations in the center. The number of staff injuries and contraband discoveries have remained largely steady in the last few years following the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. Â
However, youth-on-youth attacks have seen an uptick from 29 attacks in fiscal year 2023-2024 to 46 attacks in fiscal year 2025 to 2026. Additionally, attacks on staff have increased by about 40%, said Supervisor Jackie Speier.Â
Keene also explained the facility’s non-compliance with the Prison Rape Elimination Act, or PREA, an issue that has raised concerns among the public. PREA is a federal law that sets legal standards for prevention and responding to sexual assault within corrections facilities.Â
The lack of compliance with PREA has also drawn criticism from the public, especially since the center has had previous instances of sexual misconduct. The county has faced several lawsuits with formerly incarcerated youth accusing an ex-probation officer of sexual abuse in juvenile detention, mostly between 1994 and 2002.
There have also been recent accusations of sexual misconduct.Â
In November 2025, the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Commission Chair held a meeting where Rasmussen shared that there were multiple reports of sexual contact between a certain staff member and youth at the juvenile hall. The commission, or JJDCP, is a body of volunteers that inspect the juvenile detention center and makes recommendations on how to prevent entry into the juvenile justice system.
At that meeting, Keene said that his office was investigating the accusations. The alleged misconduct was not brought up at Tuesday’s meeting.
Keene further said that the juvenile hall has policies that closely follow PREA but that the facility has not been audited for PREA in at least three years due to a lack of available auditors in the region. Audits are required in order to be in compliance.Â
“The reality is that the Probation Department has been and is substantially aligned with the federal standards of PREA. All the themes that are in PREA are covered by our current department PREA policy,” he said. “We’re not in compliance because we don’t have auditors.”
Complaints about food
The issue of food was also addressed. At a board meeting last December, commission chair Johanna Rasmussen described the food as poor quality, sometimes cold, and that inmates reported being frequently hungry.Â
Several people from the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office Food and Nutrition Services gave presentations about the meals, which are made offsite and transported to the youth detention facility. Meals are served three times a day with quality inspections and rotating menus. Dieticians and nutritionists review the needs of inmates and make accommodations for dietary needs. Inmates also get snacks and sometimes two meal trays at one meal, said San Mateo County Correctional Health Services Dietician Denise Chu.Â
“I think the food service direct department has been doing the best they can,” she said. “They have been going over and above.”
Speier also said that the food has improved since her last visit. She visited the facility the night before the study session and spoke with inmates about their meals.
“They said food’s a lot better now than it used to be, so kudos to you for that,” she said.Â
Keene proposed holding an open house of the detention facility to members of the public as a way to try and defuse some of the public discourse criticizing the Probation Department and its management of the center.
“I think a lot of what has been said in the public is because the public has not had a chance to see our hall,” he said.
Tension between commission and probation department
After a number of presentations during the town hall, Keene said in his closing speech that the Probation Department has had issues with commission Chair Rasmussen, accusing her of being a poor collaborator.Â
“I think where the concern lies, unfortunately, is that the current leadership is not presenting opportunities, I think, for the most part, for there to be earnest collaboration,” Keene said.
He gave an example of how the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Commission allegedly took an unauthorized photo of inmates walking in an outdoor area of the detention facility and circulated it on public platforms. Some of the pictures were part of Rasmussen’s presentation to the Board in December, he said.
“The picture you see in front of you is an inappropriate, unauthorized photo taken from inside of my facility,” Keene said. “Matter of fact, when you guys received your presentation in December, it was full of photos that were taken inside of my facility that were not authorized. The reason why I bring that up is that I think it’s a microcosm of what we’ve been experiencing. This kind of blatant disregard for true collaboration and partnership.”
Board President Noelia Corzo also expressed her frustrations with the commission, saying that she has had negative experiences attending its meetings.
“There is a real tension when it comes to this commission,” she said. “When I have attended and tried to, as a supervisor, come to this commission and try to work with this commission, I have felt like I am being interrogated. I have seen other community partners be anxious about speaking with the commission because of that same treatment.”
Supervisor David Canepa, who is a former member of the commission, thinks that while the commission may be “a little troublesome sometimes in a good way,” the tension between it and the Probation Department is a “healthy tension.”
“I think you guys bringing these issues forward makes the hall stronger, and the kids feel someone they can talk to as advocates,” Canepa said. “I have no issue with you, Joanne. I have no issue with the members. I think your hearts are in the right place. You care for these kids. You shouldn’t be faulted for that.”
At the end of the town hall, supervisors laid out their suggestions on how to improve the county’s juvenile justice system.Â
Supervisor Ray Mueller introduced an idea to conduct an informal assessment of the commission’s practices and its interactions with the Youth Services Center to see what can be done to better support the commission.
Canepa proposed holding joint meetings a few times a year with the various entities involved in the juvenile justice system. Speier suggested expediting the procurement process for giving inmates items like athletic wear, and focusing on expanding support programs for youth once they leave the juvenile justice system.
“I think it was really important to do,” Speier said regarding conducting the study session. “I look forward to working closely with those who work on behalf of our young people who need us, and we need to be able to provide for them in hopes of a better future.”
This story was written by Alise Maripuu for Bay City News.
