In a room of deadbolts and heavy metal doors that open only by permission, a song escapes from a young woman dressed in a canary yellow colored top and electric blue pants.

“I know I’ll be outside…My Lord has saved me,” she sang as the inmates who sat around during a life skills class nodded their heads and swayed to the song’s soulful melody.

“I was lost…but now I’m found. I am a survivor.”

Lured by her voice, the deputies who guard the inmates inside Century Women’s Regional Center in Lynwood turned down their crackling, two-way radios that hung from their belts, and encircled her, to listen. She could be a victory, an inmate who has completed programs and has a better chance of success on the outside. For her at least, redemption from lock-up is hopeful.

But such victories are proving more difficult to achieve inside the largest women’s jail in the nation, Los Angeles County officials say.

The Lynwood jail has held women inmates since 1997. The building, however, can barely hold up itself, sheriff’s officials add.

The plumbing is rotted. Toilets back up inside cells with frequency. Elevators stall and break down regularly.

“The elevators are so old, that parts for them don’t exist anymore, said Capt. Diana Holloway, now the former unit commander of the facility.

“It’s busting at the seams,” added Sheriff’s Lt. David Petrocelli.

It’s also unequipped to accommodate the growing list of drug treatment, rehabilitation, re-entry, and “gender specific” programs county officials and criminal justice reformers want to see funded and expanded.

The inmate population has also changed over the last two decades, a result of many factors: more inmates with mental health needs, older women — some in their 80s- in need of health care, and California’s prison realignment policies shifting women with criminal records to the jails, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The jail also can reach close to capacity at times:

•There are 2,233 beds at the jail, but that number can increase depend on demand.

•The average population last year was 2,068 inmates.

•As of the end of January, there were 507 prisoners sent to the Lynwood facility, a result of state prison realignment under Assembly Bill 109, signed into law in 2011 by Gov. Jerry Brown to alleviate prison crowding. The law transfers some convicted prisoners to jails.

•About 805 inmates at the womens’ jail, or 30 percent, have been diagnosed with a mental illness.

•The average length of stay at the jail is 38 days.

As part of a solution to replacing the Lynwood facility, Los Angeles County officials have planned a massive, $2.3 billion jail construction project to provide better treatment and housing for male and female inmates with mental health illnesses and substance use disorders, those who are medically‐fragile or considered high security.

Most of that funding will go toward building a new men’s jail, while some will go toward relocating the Lynwood facility.

But its relocation has drawn criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union and a growing number of criminal justice activists, most of them former inmates and their supporters. They say the project will add beds, lead to an increase of inmates, cost more to hire law enforcement and feed an industry already getting rich off of incarceration.

Still, county officials say they plan to move forward. In March, county officials are expected to sign a ground lease with the state for Mira Loma, according to a memo on the Board’s agenda earlier this year. In 2015, the county received $100 million under the state’s AB 900, which was specifically tagged for jail facilities projects. If the county doesn’t use the money, the state can offer it to another county for their jail project.

As the project gains momentum, it means by 2021, the women’s jail will be located some 75 miles away from a busy traffic corridor in Lynwood to the quiet, desert edges of the Antelope Valley, in the northernmost part of Los Angeles County.

From Lynwood to Lancaster

At the corner of 60th St. West and W. Avenue I in Lancaster, sits the now-vacant Mira Loma Detention Center, right alongside a state prison.

Watch towers and layers of chain link fence and razor wire line the abandoned Mira Loma facility, which has had multiple uses since it opened as a World War II training base opened for military pilots in 1941. It became a vocational institution for youth offenders, a facility for inmates with contagious diseases, a minimum-security jail for men, then a women’s jail. In 1997, Mira Loma reopened as the largest detention facility of its kind in the nation for immigrants awaiting deportation. It held up to 900 men until 2012.

Now used occasionally as a film set, Los Angeles County officials have eyed it for almost a decade to be used once again for a 1,604-bed facility, saying the environment is much more conducive to rehabilitation. Instead of bunk beds cramped in “pods,” such as in Lynwood, the Mira Loma site has barracks. Instead of a room with a mesh ceiling to simulate the outdoors, women will be able to have recreation time with their visiting children in the sunshine at Mira Loma.

“It’s like a college campus setting,” said LASD Commander Cheryl Newman-Tarwater, who oversees specialized programs at the womens’ jail.

Newman-Tarwater said the Lynwood facility was first built for men, and not meant for women inmates. Women inmates have different needs, since many have histories of domestic violence and trauma.

She compared Mira Loma’s future to the Las Colinas Detention Facility in San Diego, which opened in 2014. The 45-acre, $268 million facility can hold 1,270 women and has been touted as one of the most modern.

“The feedback from both the staff and the inmates has been very positive since the opening of the facility,” said Christine Brown-Taylor, the Reentry Services Manager for the San Diego Sheriff’s Department.

But the ACLU and activists aren’t buying it. In fact, they say moving women to Mira Loma will have the opposite effect.

Inmates discuss anger management during a course in the Women’s Jail in Lynwood on December 18, 2017. The county wants to move the jail to the now vacant Mira Loma Detention Center in Lancaster. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Inmates study during a court ordered program course in the Women’s Jail in Lynwood on December 18, 2017. The county wants to move the jail to the now vacant Mira Loma Detention Center in Lancaster. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Sound The gallery will resume in seconds

Inmates take a court ordered course in the Women’s Jail in Lynwood on December 18, 2017. The county wants to move the jail to the now vacant Mira Loma Detention Center in Lancaster. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

A cell in the Women’s Jail in Lynwood on December 18, 2017. The county wants to move the jail to the now vacant Mira Loma Detention Center in Lancaster. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

A self-help book sits on an inmate’s bunk in the Women’s Jail in Lynwood on Dec. 18, 2017. The county wants to move the jail to the now vacant Mira Loma Detention Center in Lancaster. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)



An inmate left a note on her cell door in the Women’s Jail in Lynwood on December 18, 2017. The county wants to move the jail to the now vacant Mira Loma Detention Center in Lancaster. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Rewarded inmates practice and receive hair styling at the Women’s Jail in Lynwood on December 18, 2017. The county wants to move the jail to the now vacant Mira Loma Detention Center in Lancaster. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Artwork marks a wall inside a cell in the Women’s Jail in Lynwood on December 18, 2017. The county wants to move the jail to the now vacant Mira Loma Detention Center in Lancaster. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

A woman is moved to processing, where inmates are readied for court, in the Women’s Jail in Lynwood on December 18, 2017. The county wants to move the jail to the now vacant Mira Loma Detention Center in Lancaster. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Los Angeles Sheriff’s Commander Cheryl Newman-Tarwater, center, talks to a jail deputy as her and Capt. Diana Holloway move through the deputies’ quarters inside the Women’s Jail in Lynwood. The county wants to move the jail to the now vacant Mira Loma Detention Center in Lancaster. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)



An Inmate is moved through the Women’s Jail in Lynwood on December 18, 2017. The county wants to move the jail to the now vacant Mira Loma Detention Center in Lancaster. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

An inmate paces in her cell as her roommate sits on her bunk at the Women’s Jail in Lynwood on December 18, 2017. The county wants to move the jail to the now vacant Mira Loma Detention Center in Lancaster. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

‘No More Jails!

In September, a grassroots group called Justice LA shut down Temple Street in downtown Los Angeles, right in front of the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, where the Board of Supervisors meets each week. Members of the group lined the street with dozens of mock bunk beds, wore orange shirts and shouted “No More Jails!” among other slogans. Among their concerns, they say the $2.3 billion quoted by the Board was misleading, that the actual cost would be $3.5 billion project when interest, capital and other expenses are factored in.

That money, they and the ACLU said, could be better used for more diversion and drug treatment programs. They have other concerns too, including distance and the lack of services up in the Antelope Valley.

“We’re talking about people from poor communities who may not be able to afford visiting someone 70 miles away,” said Esther Lim, director of jails projects at the ACLU. “Women tend to get less visitors, so we’re talking about less social contact.”

Lim said a proposal to allow women to talk to family members via video is inadequate.

“Video visitation is different from seeing someone face to face,” she said.

In addition, Lim called the surrounding area where Mira Loma is located a resource desert for its lack of social services. Women often are assigned to court appointed programs and education classes in Lynwood. The ACLU and the Sheriff’s Department also work together in providing a breast milk program. Inmates with babies have relatives pick up breast milk.

“A lot of providers for women are based here,” Lim added. “These are non-profits offering these kinds of services. Are they going to move up there?”

As for Mira Loma looking more like a college campus than a jail, Lim said she and others remain skeptical.

“It’s still a jail,” Lim said. “If women can’t get adequate programs here (in Lynwood) what’s going to change all because there are trees and grass?”

Kim McGill, an organizer with the Youth Justice Coalition who has experienced being locked up at Lynwood, said while it’s true that jails are in bad shape, there are other alternatives. Most women in jail are being held for nonviolent crimes, she said, and many can’t afford bail and lawyers.

“It’s rare to find a jail that’s in good shape,” she said. “But we need to focus on reduction before construction. The way to do that, first and foremost, is pre-trial release, pre-arraignment release and end of money bail. Four thousand to 6,000 (men and women inmates) are in jail a day because they can’t afford bail.”

Another concern is Valley fever, which is caused by the spore of a fungus that grows in certain types of soil. Infections continue to rise in Los Angeles County, and Antelope Valley residents are more affected than other groups, according to recent data by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

A total of 714 cases were reported in the county in 2016 , a jump of 37 percent from 2015, health officials have said. It’s unknown why, they added.

“We can’t have a one-size-fits-all system. What we have now is ‘lock everybody up’.” — Kim McGill, Youth Justice Coalition

Most people have no symptoms at all, while some experience flu-like symptoms that can last for two weeks or more. Most recover fully, but some may develop more severe complications such as pneumonia, or infection of the brain, joints, bone, skin or other organs.

“(Immigration) detainees complained a lot about toxic waste on the land, and there’s a huge increase of Valley fever,” McGill said. “You’re putting women and potentially children in an area that has a very high rate of Valley fever.”

McGill said activists have proposed moving the women to the little used Los Angeles County’s Central Juvenile Hall, which can be upgraded. She said the facility could offer job training, and let non-violent offenders go home at night to their families.

“We can’t have a one-size-fits-all system,” McGill said. “What we have now is ‘lock everybody up’.”

County officials said they have heard the concerns, and have worked on several programs to abandon the County’s ‘jail-first’ approach to criminal justice, including establishing an Office of Diversion & Re-Entry. They also said the male and female inmates who need extensive mental health and health services will be at the newer downtown facility that will replace Men’s Central Jail. There would be a reduced number of jail beds.

The Board of Supervisors had explored other options, including construction of a “Women’s Village” campus at the Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic, but there were real estate issues, officials said.

“We will continue to work with our county partners to facilitate visiting at Mira Loma as we recognize it as a vital component of rehabilitation and reintegration into the community.,” according to a joint statement from supervisors and the sheriff’s department. “In keeping with corrections best practices and knowing our female population is one of our most vulnerable, we believe it will be most beneficial to have them offered extensive programming opportunities at Mira Loma.”

Inside/outside

On a recent day, women inmates trickled out of the Lynwood facility and into the warm, afternoon sun. Some were released on bail, while others left with social workers to enter programs. Others simply completed their time and met loved ones in the parking lot..

Many agreed it was time to close the Lynwood facility. Some said moving to Mira Loma wasn’t a bad idea.

Brianna Phillips, 25, was relieved to be out after being arrested for burglary. She said she lost 12 pounds in 12 days. The smell inside the jails, the food, took away her appetite, she said.

Her mother La Che Figures who picked her up said moving the jail to Mira Loma could be a good change. She herself had been locked up there once before as a youth.

“It’s farther, but it’s more open,” Figures said. “It’s a better place.”

Christina Lazos, 27, was released after serving 180 days inside Lynwood for selling and transporting drugs. She said she had been in and out of jails and prisons 19 times. She said it wouldn’t matter to her if the jail moved to Mira Loma, since she had no visitors while she was inside the Lynwood facility. But she said the move could be hard on women who receive regular visits.

“This place is breaking a part,” she said. “The toilets are always clogged. It’s really packed.”

As she waited for her husband to pick her up after being released on bail, Shanique Nolan, 32, agreed that the womens’ jail was in bad shape. Moving it far out to Mira Loma could be tough on women with children and those like her who are employed, she noted. She said she’s working hard to make better choices. Still, Nolan said, something had to be done.

“The smell is bad. The food is bad. The toilets are terrible,” she said. “This place is worn down.”