Restorative Justice Village: A Master Plan on community-based holistic care in downtown LA

NAC Architecture/ Gehry Partners

Los Angeles County has a historic opportunity to make the Board of Supervisor’s “Care First, Jail Last” vision a reality and to take concrete steps to reduce racial, economic, and health disparities. In closing Men’s Central Jail (MCJ) and exploring community-based alternatives to incarceration (ATI), the County can make our communities safer and healthier. The Restorative Justice Village Master Plan is about creating a decentralized network of community-based holistic care facilities and infrastructure, comprehensively planned with community and County stakeholders, to address the “care” envisioned in the County’s endeavor. Many of the people incarcerated in the LA County jails do not fundamentally belong there. The majority have mental health needs, substance abuse dependence, face financial hardships, and experience homelessness– propelling their entanglement in the criminal justice system resulting in their arrest and incarceration. The goal of Restorative Village Master Plan is to offer vulnerable individuals wraparound services and support in lieu of jail time that promotes healing and family reunification, reintegrates them back into their communities, and diverts them from future justice involvement altogether. For those who have committed serious offenses, they too require humane treatment, while in custody, if unable to find appropriate placements in the community, and as they prepare to re-enter society. To release these individuals onto the street, often in the middle of the night, without support, without care, is inhumane and leaves them with few choices except to return to the behaviors and life that led them to chronic homelessness or incarceration. They will likely require additional services and support to rehabilitate successfully. Upon their release, they and their loved ones will benefit from the supportive services the Master Plan will offer. The Restorative Care Village Master Plan leverages community voices, particularly those who are and have been incarcerated, as well as those communities in which the Master Plan will affect to construct a responsive and rehabilitative environment that meets the needs of vulnerable Angelenos with equity, dignity, humanity, and grace. The Master Plan is a stepping-stone to encourage system-impacted individuals to reconnect with their families and rejoin their communities – to return home; and those experiencing homelessness or who are houseless to find a safe and supportive space to call their own. Hailing from all over LA County, these individuals need support not only within the immediate vicinity of the jails, but also within their home communities. They need support to establish stability in their lives and circumvent their involvement in the legal system and cycle of homelessness now and into the future.

This is an ongoing project and I have significantly contributed to preparing data and study analysis for the pre-master plan report.