Shuttered youth prison outside Camarillo stays empty while state weighs options
The state is still figuring out what to do with the former Ventura Youth Correctional Facility outside Camarillo.
The facility at 3100 Wright Road has stood empty since it was permanently closed on June 30. The move came as California phased out its state-run youth prisons and shifted responsibility to counties.
Since the site was shuttered, a small maintenance staff from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has worked on the grounds, department spokeswoman Mary Xjimenez said in an email.
The department continues to weigh its options for the property but currently has no plans to remodel or demolish the buildings, Xjimenez said.
The facility is on the rural outskirts of Camarillo, surrounded by agricultural fields west of Beardsley Road.
Barbed wire remains above the walls. Signage still stands from the site's days as a correctional facility. A stenciled wood sign that leans against the glass front doors refers visitors to a maintenance shop and vehicle yard next door.
The Ventura Youth Correctional Facility featured brick bungalow living units and a clinic, according to a Corrections Department fact sheet. It opened in 1962 as the new site of the Ventura School for Girls, a corrections facility established in Ventura in 1913. The Wright Road site became coeducational in 1970.
The local facility housed young offenders from around the state. The locked site allowed some community engagement, including visits from Los Angeles Rams football players and a car show brought to the grounds by local club members.
By the end of June last year, California's three remaining youth detention centers, including the Camarillo site, had closed and the former state Division of Juvenile Justice ceased operations. One facility in the Sierra Nevada that provides training in wildland firefighting for youths 18 and older, the Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp, remains open.
Advocates of the closures have said youths who commit crimes can be reformed and better served at facilities closer to their homes.
Dave Mason covers East County for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at dave.mason@vcstar.com or 805-437-0232.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Former Ventura Youth Correctional Facility's future weighed
