Probation Oversight Commission, Los Angeles County

At our 5/11/26 Probation Oversight Commission meeting, L.A. County Probation reported that data they provided about staff who “no show” at work was not being captured correctly. Accurate data is not optional, it is the foundation of transparency, accountability, and informed decision-making.

Data systems in a department as important as Probation must be consistently reviewed and audited to ensure the information presented to the public is correct. Successful oversight depends on the POC, the Board, and the public receiving accurate information.

Commissioner Milinda Kakani has spent her career inside the systems most people never see, from the The Bronx Defenders Family Defense Practice to Public Counsel’s Transition Age Youth Project. What she witnessed firsthand is a juvenile system that spoke the language of rehabilitation while too often acting on the logic and harm of the adult carceral system.

As Executive Director of the California Youth Justice Project, Mili doesn’t see transformative justice as an abstract philosophy, but a real path toward accountability, repair, and human connection. Her role on the POC is not to legitimize or improve the system as it exists, but to push those within it to recognize the humanity, dignity, and potential of every young person it touches.

At our 4/9/26 POC meeting, Laura Ridolfi, Racial Justice and Well-Being Strategist with the W. Haywood Burns Institute (BI), highlighted a critical reality: 63% of youth currently detained in LA County have low or medium LADS scores.

According to LAC Probation’s own risk assessment tool, the L.A. Detention Screener (LADS), these youth should be recommended for release, not detention.

Youth deserve decisions grounded in data, fairness, and community-based support, not unnecessary incarceration.

Dolores Canales leads with purpose and with perspective.

As Chair of the Probation Oversight Commission and Community Outreach Director at The Bail Project, she brings years of organizing alongside families impacted by incarceration.

Her work is grounded in a clear belief: real public safety starts with opportunity. That means investing in young people, listening to community voices, and working across systems to build something better than what’s come before.

She’s focused on moving forward, challenging what hasn’t worked and pushing for solutions that actually change outcomes. This is leadership rooted in experience and driven by the urgency to get it right.