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Los Angeles County’s chief probation officer says he plans to resign as troubled probation officer faces deadline to leave Los Padrinos Juvenile Detention Center, officials said, adding that more than 200 people incarcerated there It is said that there is a possibility that young people will have nowhere to go.
Probation Director Guillermo Vieira Rosa sent a short memo to the county Board of Supervisors on Wednesday and plans to retire by the end of the year, according to people familiar with the situation who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters. He said that.
Vieira Rosa’s unexpected resignation comes after 20 months of failing to reform the troubled juvenile detention center, which is once again at risk of closure under intense scrutiny from regulators and the California Attorney General’s Office. This will bring an end to his term of office. The Probation Department is responsible for supervising both adult parolees and youth in juvenile halls and detention centers.
“The Probation Department has many challenges and we are grateful to him for taking on this job during a difficult time,” Superintendent Janice Hahn, whose district includes the Downey facility, said in a statement. “I wish him luck.”
The Board of Supervisors 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 for his replacement.
Vieira-Rosa, through a spokesperson for the Probation Department, declined to comment.
Vieira Rosa, a former member of the California State and Community Corrections Board, a watchdog agency that has repeatedly threatened to close the county’s aging juvenile facilities, is a former member of the California Board of Community Corrections, a watchdog agency that has repeatedly threatened to close the county’s aging juvenile facilities. After being fired, he was tasked with leading improvements. And management errors within the facility.
Instead, Vieira Rosa found himself squarely in the crosshairs of the oversight committee he once sat on.
He initially joined the county as chief strategist for juvenile activities. Shortly after, an 18-year-old boy died of a drug overdose at the Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Detention Center in Sylmar. It comes after weeks of alarming reports from regulators about drug use among teenagers in the facility.
Viera Rosa reopened the defunct Los Padrinos juvenile detention center, but the facility quickly fell into disarray. In the first month alone, there were riots and escape attempts, a supervisor was arrested with a gun on the job, and employees continued to refuse to come to work.
In October, the State and Local Corrections Commission found that Viera Rosa had failed to address the staffing crisis and that Los Padrinos was no longer safe for youth. The board ordered the department to relocate more than 200 young people from Los Padrinos by December 12.
Vieira Rosa has shown little intention of moving them, frustrating corrections board members who have repeatedly said the department’s facilities are dangerous for young people.
“At this time, there is no effort to develop any plans to relocate the young people detained in Los Padrinos,” board member and acting public defender Angeles Zaragoza said at the Nov. 21 meeting, adding: He accused the county of inappropriate conduct. “blatant disregard” of the supervisory board; “I’m at a loss as to how we got here.”
Attorneys for the commission said at the meeting that they would consider legal action against the agency if the relocation deadline passes without transfer from the county.
“Everyone on the board is concerned about December 12th and what will happen after December 12th,” said board chair Linda Penner.
A board spokesperson said the company had not been informed of Vieira-Rosa’s plans to leave the company.
Not all Viera Rosa bosses treated his departure as a done deal. Supervisor Kathryn Berger said in a statement that she wants “strong and consistent leadership at the top.”
“I would like to explore opportunities for Probation Director Viera Rosa to continue his service to our county,” she said. “Effective leadership is essential to implement reforms and ensure the Department’s staff can do their important work of rehabilitating and supporting young people in our care.The Challenges We Face is big, but not insurmountable.”
Three other regulators either declined to comment or did not comment before publication.
Probation Department spokeswoman Vicki Waters declined to comment on Vieira Rosa’s departure, but said the department hopes to avoid closing Los Padrinos by passing another inspection. said. The inspector was at Los Padrinos on Thursday, according to the Board of Corrections.
“We are confident that the improvements implemented initially will ensure compliance,” Waters said.
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