L.A. County probation chief to retire

The head of the troubled Los Angeles County Probation Department will retire by the end of the year after 20 months in the position, according to a report published Thursday.

Guillermo Viera Rosa sent a memo to the Board of Supervisors on Wednesday informing supervisors of his plans to retire as chief probation officer, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing several sources who requested anonymity to discuss a sensitive personnel matter.

Problems at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey have led to the board's decision to close the facility, which Viera Rosa is responsible for overseeing.

"We have a lot of challenges in the probation department and I thank him for taking on this job during some difficult times," Supervisor Janice Hahn, whose district includes the Los Padrinos facility, said in a statement to The Times. "I wish him the best."

The Board of Supervisors scheduled a closed-door meeting with Viera Rosa at Tuesday's regularly scheduled board meeting. According to the meeting agenda, the board will conduct a performance review for Viera Rosa and consider candidates to replace him.

There have been 66 probation officers in the department placed on leave since the beginning of the year for various issues relating to conduct on and off duty, The Times previously reported.

In February, the California Board of State and Community Corrections stopped short of closing Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall and the Barry J. Nidorf Secure Youth Treatment Facility in Sylmar.

The state board ruled that the two facilities were "unsuitable" to house youth detainees. Its decision found the Sylmar site to be out of compliance with regulations pertaining to staffing levels, training, use of force training, disciplinary procedures and youth access to programs and recreation.

Los Padrinos was found to have significantly more problems, with noncompliance found in staffing levels, fire safety plans, safety checks, room confinement procedures, use of force training, searches, education programs, youth access to programs and recreation and disciplinary procedures.

According to the department, of the 66 officers placed on leave, 39 were for issues of general misconduct, which includes suspected use of excessive force, child endangerment or abuse, possession of contraband, and negligent supervision, The Times reported. In addition, 18 were placed on leave for suspected sexual misconduct and nine for arrests unrelated to employment.

In October, the board found Viera Rosa was unable get the staffing crisis at Los Padrinos and that the facility was no longer safe for youths. The board gave the department until Dec. 12 to relocate more than 200 youths from Los Padrinos, The Times reported.

Los Padrinos houses pre-disposition youth detainees awaiting resolution of their court cases, while the Nidorf facility holds post- disposition youth offenders who have been convicted.

The county reopened Los Padrinos last year and transferred all pre- disposition youth to the facility, moving them away from Nidorf Hall in Sylmar and Central Juvenile Hall in Lincoln Heights, which were both declared unsuitable and ordered to close by the state corrections board.

At that time, the state board did not have jurisdiction over the Nidorf Secure Youth Treatment Facility for post-disposition youth, but it was granted that authority by the state later in the year.

County Supervisor Kathryn Barger praised Thursday's decision, but pointed out that more work needs to be done to improve the juvenile facilities.

"Today's suitability finding is a testament to the hard work that our county's Probation Department, under new leadership, has put in to improve the care youth are receiving at two challenging sites," Barger said in a statement. "The work is far from over, but we are headed in the right direction.

"I will continue closely tracking our Probation Department's focus on sustaining and enhancing this progress and implementation. I fully support a continued focus on staffing at the appropriate levels -- this is the heart of what will make improvements permanent. Keeping the youth in our care and staff safe is my top priority for the department."

An attorney for the Board of Supervisors expressed concern about the youth who will be displaced when Los Padrinos closes.

"There is no effort at this time to make any sort of plan to relocate the young people detained in Los Padrinos," said Angeles Zaragoza, a board member and alternate public defender, at a Nov. 21 meeting where she rebuked the county, accusing it of "blatant disregard" of the oversight board. "I'm just at a loss to how we have gotten here."

Attorneys for the board said at the meeting they would consider legal action against the agency if the relocation deadline came and went without movement from the county, The Times reported.

"Everyone on this board is concerned about Dec. 12 and what will occur after Dec. 12," board Chair Linda Penner said.

Viera Rosa declined to comment to The Times through a Probation Department spokesperson.