There’s a stark contrast between the plain walls and fences around the juvenile detention center in Ventura and the piece of land next to it. The plot is colorful and lush with wild grasses and flowers, and bears evidence of its previous use as a Senior Nutrition farm with flowering broccoli among the neglected and overgrown acreage.
But now, it has a new future.
"We're going to be farming about 3.63 acres here, growing everything from passion fruit, dragon fruit, avocados, citrus, all kinds of fruits and vegetables, and herbs, and getting the youth involved in that process," explained Caitlin Paulus Case from Students for Eco-Education and Agriculture (SEEAG).
"Something that we are really excited to do is offer a pre-apprenticeship and paid apprenticeship program for justice-involved youth here in Ventura County," she added. "Enabling them and empowering them to be a part of a more sustainable and equitable food system in the future. That's really the goal we're focusing on."
SEEAG provides youth education programs in the county, but this is new and unique. In partnership with the county’s Probation Agency, it’ll become Southbank Learning Farm, where justice-involved youth can engage in hands-on farming and food education and career pathway development, while growing fresh, healthy produce.
This program is the first of its kind to be able to offer our youth a paid internship program to learn all aspects of farming and to come out here while they're in custody and learn some job skills that they can transfer into the community," said Heidiann Cobos with the Ventura County Probation Agency.
"Many of our youth are here for serious felonies and will be housed here till they reach the age of 25. So when they come in, they may not have even had their first job. So that's why this program is so important, to be able to give them those skills that they would normally receive in the community."
There are some who may say it isn’t a punishment to be outside farming, but Cobos said it's an opportunity to develop skills needed in the workforce that is critical, particularly for those who have been detained at a young age.
"I think it's difficult for many people to transition [out of detention and back into the community] if they don't have these opportunities that we are going to be able to provide for them. The reality is, whether we like it or not, these youth will leave at 25 with no job skills, and so we felt that it's worth to work with the courts to get them on a furlough to come out here and work, and then they'll return to the facility once they're done," she said.
This rich arable land needs some work to be ready for planting, but here, as with the 300 apprentices and interns they expect to farm this land over the next 20 years of their lease, is the hope that by planting a seed and giving it the right nurturing, they can grow and thrive.
