L.A. County's chief executive said he plans to leave the troubled facility as a deadline to move out of Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall, sources said, which could leave more than 200 incarcerated youths without a place to go.
Probation Officer Guillermo Viera Rosa sent a brief memo Wednesday to the county's Board of Supervisors saying he plans to retire at the end of the year, according to several sources who asked not to be identified to discuss a sensitive personnel matter.
Viera Rosa's unexpected departure will cap a 20-month period in which he failed to overhaul the agency whose juvenile halls faced the threat of closure under intense scrutiny from oversight agencies and the California attorney general's office. The County Probation Department is responsible for supervising both adult and juvenile parolees in juvenile camps and halls.
“We have many challenges in the Probation Department and I thank her for taking on this job during difficult times,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn, whose district includes the Los Padrinos center in Downey, in a statement. “I wish him the best.”
The Board of Directors scheduled a closed meeting with Viera Rosa on Tuesday. According to the agenda of the meeting, the board will consider the performance of the chief and consider the candidates who will replace him.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Probation, Viera Rosa, declined to comment.
A former member of the California Board of State and Community Corrections – the oversight body that did it he repeatedly threatened to close the county's deteriorating children's centers – Viera Rosa was given the task of development after the dismissal of his predecessor on the heels of two Times investigations into abuse and misconduct.
Instead, Viera Rosa found herself in the crosshairs of the supervisory board she once sat on.
He first joined the district as chief strategist for children's services. Soon after, an 18-year-old boy died of drug use at Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar, after weeks of alarming reports from law enforcement agencies about drug use among youths at the facility.
Viera Rosa also reopened the defunct Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall, but the facility soon fell into disarray. In the first month alone, there was a commotion and they tried to run away, the manager was caught with a gun on the premises, and the workers continued to refuse to go to work.
In October, the Board of Moral and Social Discipline found that Viera Rosa had failed to find a way to handle the labor crisis and that Los Padrinos was no longer safe for young people. The board has given the department until Dec. 12 that he transported more than 200 youths to Los Padrinos.
Viera Rosa has shown little intention of removing them, much to the dismay of members of the disciplinary board, who have repeatedly said that the organization's facilities are dangerous for young people.
“There is no attempt at the moment to make any kind of plan to transport the young people arrested in Los Padrinos,” said Angeles Zaragoza, a member of the board and another public defender, in a meeting on November 21 where he reprimanded the district, alleging. in “flagrant contempt” of the supervisory board. “I'm just wondering how we got here.”
The board's lawyers said at the meeting that they will consider legal action to be taken against the organization if the migration deadline comes without a move.
“Everybody on this board is worried about December 12th and what will happen after December 12th,” said Board Chairwoman Linda Penner.
A spokesperson for the board said they were not informed of Viera Rosa's plans to leave the facility.
Not all Viera Rosa managers treated his departure as a done deal. Supervisor Kathryn Barger said in a statement that she wants “strong and consistent leadership at the top.”
“I want to check if there is an opportunity for the Head of the Department of Corrections, Viera Rosa, to continue his work in our Province,” he said. “Effective leadership is important in making changes and ensuring that the department's staff are able to do the important work of rehabilitating and supporting the youth in their charge. The challenges we face are great – but not insurmountable. ”
The offices of three other governors declined to comment or did not comment before publication.
Department of Corrections spokeswoman Vicky Waters declined to comment on Viera Rosa's departure but said the department hopes to prevent the closure of Los Padrinos by re-examining it. Inspectors were in Los Padrinos on Thursday, according to the board of corrections.
“We are confident that the initial improvements made will ensure compliance with the law,” said Waters.
The president of the union representing probation officers, who has long expressed frustration with the department's leadership and Board of Directors, welcomed Viera Rosa's announcement.
“Under his leadership, there has been failure after failure,” Stacy Ford, president of the AFSCME 685 union, said in a statement. “People don't leave a good job because they don't like their job, they leave because of bad leadership. Under his leadership, officers were forced to retire, officers were forced to return home on medical leave, officers were forced to work in a dangerous work environment and many officers have quit because of harassment.”
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