San Diego County Completes Second Phase of Youth Transition Campus
By Fay Harvey
KEARNY MESA, Calif. — San Diego County has officially completed the $98 million Youth Transition Campus in Kearny Mesa, Calif., capping a years-long effort to replace the county’s outdated Juvenile Hall, which offered “limited space for rehabilitative programming and behavior health services,” according to Tamika Nelson, chief probation officer.
The new campus, which has been in the works for six years, features two facilities completed in two separate phases that place rehabilitation and therapy on the front-burner, supporting San Diego County’s efforts to create better outcomes for high-risk youth. The recently completed structure houses pre-adjudicated youth who have been accused of violent offenses but have not received sentencing, joining a facility completed in 2022 to house post-adjudicated youth serving sentences ranging from 85 days to 12 months.
The Youth Transition Campus as a whole offers many new facilities and supportive services focused on rehabilitation and career exploration, including state-of-the-art classrooms that support graphic design, woodshop and culinary classes as well as healing spaces, sports and recreation areas, and larger visiting areas.
Where the previous Juvenile Hall offered low-ceilings, poor noise dampening, little privacy, and housing units filled with up to 40 juvenile offenders in one space, the new facilities are more cottage-like. Each unit houses 12 youth with their own designated sleeping area and bathroom, and units open to common spaces that offer books, televisions, and phones as well as shared kitchenettes.
Adjacent to the campus are offices where youth can access mental health specialists and corrections supervisors.
The project was completed by global design firm DLR Group and the San Diego office of Balfour Beatty.