By George Johnston in Red Bluff Daily News

RED BLUFF, Calif., July 9, 2025 — Chief Probation Officer Pam Gonzalez and Superintendent Todd Hansen recently gave a presentation on the performance of the Tehama County Juvenile Detention Facility’s programs and services.

The detention facility can accommodate up to 41 youths. Capacity is directly tied to state staffing mandates. One officer is required for every 10 youths. Staffing vacancies directly affect the population in the juvenile hall.

When Pam Gonzalez became Chief Probation Officer, one of the tasks the Board assigned to her was to raise the rates of the contracts of the counties that do business with the juvenile hall. Her staff developed a tiered system for those rates. So, depending on the program the youth is in, the rate they will charge varies. The detention facility added an additional charge for suicide watch because that makes the juvenile hall have an additional staff member for that one-on-one observation. Additionally, the juvenile hall added two more counties to its contracts that the Board had not seen previously.

Due to state and law changes, the juvenile hall now houses youth up to 26 years old. Gonzalez said this requires the detention facility to address additional safety concerns in addition to providing the rehabilitative and re-entry programming that staff are now required to offer for that population…

As of June 10, around 11 percent of the youth in our facility are in there for murder, 17 percent for attempted murder, 11 percent for robbery, 47 percent had a firearm-related offense, and 64 percent of the youth in our facility are gang-related.

“It is kind of a pretty staggering statistic when you look at it,” Hansen said. “The reason I bring those up is so that the Board and the public can understand the level of youth that we are caring for, that we’re dealing with.”

“…The role of a juvenile detention officer is a very unique and challenging but also rewarding position.”

Recently, the juvenile hall implemented a couple of stimulating new programs. One of them is a culinary program that the facility partnered with Shasta College. A chef is in the kitchen training kids to bake and cook. There is also a gardening program offered through Shasta College, which takes place on weekends. The Kids are taken out to the facility’s garden to learn how to grow things and be productive.

In the evening, they can participate in some rehabilitative programming through the service vendors. Then they have free time, during which they can make phone calls at home, write letters to family, or participate in visitation, where family members can come in and see them. Alternatively, they might relax and play board games or a similar activity.

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