Los Angeles County’s probation chief says he plans to leave the troubled agency as the deadline approaches to vacate Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall, sources said, potentially leaving more than 200 youths incarcerated with nowhere to go.
Probation Chief Guillermo Viera Rosa sent a brief memo to the county Board of Supervisors Wednesday saying he plans to retire by the end of the year, according to multiple sources who requested anonymity to discuss a sensitive personnel matter.
Viera Rosa’s unexpected departure would cap a 20-month period in which he failed to reform an agency whose juvenile centers are once again threatened with closure under increasing scrutiny from watchdog agencies and the Office of the Commissioner. Attorney General of California. The county probation department is responsible for supervising both adults on parole and youth in camps and juvenile centers.
“We have a lot of challenges in the probation department and I thank him for taking this job during difficult times,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn, whose district includes the Los Padrinos facility in Downey, in a press release. “I wish him the best.”
The Board of Supervisors has scheduled a closed-door meeting with Viera Rosa for Tuesday. According to the meeting agenda, the board will conduct a performance evaluation of the chief and consider candidates to replace him.
Through a Probation Department spokesperson, Viera Rosa declined to comment.
Former member of the California Board of State and Community Corrections, the watchdog agency that repeatedly threatened to close the county’s dilapidated juvenile facilities — Viera Rosa was tasked with making improvements after her predecessor was fired in the wake of two Times investigations into abuse and mismanagement.
Instead, Viera Rosa found himself directly in the crosshairs of the supervisory board he once served on.
He first joined the county as chief strategist for juvenile operations. Shortly afterward, an 18-year-old died of a drug overdose in Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar, after weeks of alarming reports from regulators about drug use among the city’s teens. ‘establishment.
Viera Rosa reopened the former Los Padrinos juvenile hall, but the facility quickly descended into chaos. In just the first month, there was a riot and an attempted escape, a supervisor was caught carrying a gun in the field, and employees continued to refuse to show up for work.
In October, the Board of State and Community Corrections found that Viera Rosa had failed to bring the personnel crisis under control and that Los Padrinos was no longer safe for youngsters. The board gave the department until Dec. 12 to relocate more than 200 youth from Los Padrinos.
Viera Rosa has shown little intention of moving them, frustrating corrections board members, who have repeatedly said the agency’s facilities are unsafe for young people.
“At this time, there is no effort being made to develop any plan to relocate juvenile detainees to Los Padrinos,” board member and alternate public defender Angeles Zaragoza said at a meeting of Nov. 21 in which she reprimanded the county, charging it was a “blatant disregard” of the Board of Supervisors. “I just don’t understand how we got to this point.”
Attorneys for the board said at the meeting they would consider legal action against the agency if the relocation deadline comes and goes without movement from the county.
“Everyone on this board is concerned about December 12 and what happens after December 12,” said board President Linda Penner.
A board spokesperson said it had not been informed of Viera Rosa’s plans to leave the agency.
Not all of Viera Rosa’s bosses considered his departure a fait accompli. Supervisor Kathryn Barger said in a statement she wants “strong, consistent leadership at the top.”
“I want to explore if there is an opportunity for Probation Department Chief Viera Rosa to continue her service to our county,” she said. “Effective leadership is essential to implementing reforms and ensuring department staff can carry out the important work of rehabilitating and supporting the young people in their care. The challenges we face are immense, but not insurmountable.
The offices of the other three supervisors declined to comment or did not comment before publication.
Probation Department spokeswoman Vicky Waters declined to comment on Viera Rosa’s departure, but said the department hopes to avoid closing Los Padrinos by passing another inspection. Detectives were at Los Padrinos Thursday, according to the corrections board.
“We are confident that the initial improvements implemented will ensure compliance,” Waters said.
The president of the union representing rank-and-file probation officers, who has long expressed frustration with the department’s leadership and Board of Supervisors, welcomed Viera Rosa’s announcement.
“Under his leadership, there has been failure after failure,” Stacy Ford, president of AFSCME Local 685, said in a statement. “People don’t leave a good job because they don’t like their job, they leave it because of bad leadership. Under his leadership, agents were forced to retire, agents were forced to return home for medical reasons, agents were forced to work in a toxic and dangerous work environment, and many agents resigned due to abuse.
