Changes aimed at teaching skills and fostering leadership are underway at the Orange County Juvenile Hall to help youth with longer sentences, after a new California bill passed in 2021 increasing their time in such facilities to the age of 25.
Previously, youth could only remain at such facilities until the age of 18 or 21, before being transferred to a state-run juvenile prison.
With the age increase, one such new Orange County program, which started last June gives such older youth a chance to gain skills in an auto shop.
There, they receive classroom learning and training in basic auto mechanic skills.
German Zarate stands next to automotive equipment used to train incarcerated men at The County of Orange Probation Department in Orange, Calif., on Jan. 25, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)
Deputy Correctional Officer German Zarate, who teaches at the shop, told The Epoch Times he mainly instructs on vehicle alignment and tire changing skills, which can help his students get job offers from places like Costco and Jiffy Lube….