Neighbors Oppose Plans for Halfway House

FOUNTAIN VALLEY — Plans to revive a halfway house program for low-risk jail inmates on work furlough have alarmed residents of the neighborhood where it is planned.

If the Board of Supervisors signs off on the proposal, a 13-unit apartment building on a sliver of unincorporated county land between Fountain Valley and the Santa Ana River will be converted to a halfway house for 50 work furlough inmates. The program would be administered by the Orange County Probation Department and the nonprofit Orange County Youth and Family Services. The facility would mirror those in similar programs that were cut during the county’s bankruptcy.

The proposal won narrow approval from the Orange County Planning Commission this week despite heated objections from neighbors and Fountain Valley officials.

Opponents worry in particular about inmates walking past several school bus stops to reach public buses that will take them to their jobs.

“We’re not against the program. We’re against the location of the site,” said Fountain Valley resident Veronica Ka, 56, who led the neighborhood’s efforts to persuade planning commissioners to reject the plan.

Probation department officials, however, say the inmates would be supervised on their way to the bus stops at times when children are present. And officials emphasize that only nonviolent offenders--such as those jailed for failure to pay child support, writing bad checks, drunk driving or repeated unpaid traffic tickets--would be eligible for the furlough program.