Social worker Joahanna “Jo” Terrones of San Pedro was appointed to the Sybil Brand Commission for institutional inspections this week.
That commission conducts inspections of jails, lockups, and probation and correctional facilities in Los Angeles County. It is charged with ensuring the well-being of those who are incarcerated.
Los Angeles County Chair Janice Hahn made the appointment on Tuesday, Jan. 10.
“Throughout my lifetime growing up in the Harbor Area of Los Angeles,” Terrones said in a written statement, “I have witnessed and experienced how the criminal justice and mental health system have impacted so many people I knew in my community.”
Terrones’s seat was previously held by Eleanor R. Montaño, a Wilmington resident who served on the commission for nearly 30 years, including a decade as chairperson. In December, Hahn named Montaño a Sybil Brand commissioner emeritus.
Terrones is a licensed clinical social worker who has provided case management and supportive services in the Los Angeles and Long Beach areas for 15 years.
Terrones said she went into social work “to help uplift and support those around me in any way I could.”
The inspections role, she added, will be an opportunity to collaborate and address issues impacting incarcerated individuals by using her clinical skills and applying social work ethics.
She currently works at the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, providing life skills and individual therapy sessions to formerly incarcerated youth in the housing program.
She has a master’s degree in social work from Cal State Los Angeles, with a concentration in forensic social work.
In making the appointment, Hahn said the Sybil Brand Commission “serves a critical role in ensuring that we’re meeting the needs of those incarcerated adults in our care and leading with compassion.
Terrones, she added, “has been on the front lines, providing life-changing care directly to formerly incarcerated youth for many years.”