After two members of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors recent visit to BJN Juvenile Hall, a majority of the Board yesterday called for the resignation of the Chief Probation Officer for failing to address operational problems in the juvenile halls that were reported by the BSCC, DOJ Monitor, and the Probation Oversight Committee.
The Board’s loss of confidence in the Chief and Executive Leadership Team involved the following:
Failure to remedy several consecutive findings (Title 15 BSCC) violations that impacted the safety of youth and staff;
Failure to address critical staffing shortages in the Juvenile Halls;
Mental Health, COE, Juvenile Health Services, and Probation staff do not feel safe working in the juvenile halls due to poor management oversight and lack of control over operations;
Failure to implement specialized correctional training for staff to work with young and adult high-risk DJJ offenders; and
Failure to phase out pepper spray and provide alternative support for staff or increase staffing levels and ratios.
The AFSCME Local 685 Executive Board urges members to support the Board of Supervisors executive leadership change, which focuses on running the juvenile institutions in a safe and secure manner that protects the youth and values the staff that work in the juvenile halls.
Local 685 leadership and members will join and partner with the Board of Supervisors as follows:
Appointing knowledgeable, experienced Bureau Directors, Superintendents, Directors, Supervisors, and veteran Probation staff to work in the Juvenile Halls to cure the 39 BSCC unsuitability violations;
Increase staffing crisis in the juvenile halls through hiring and promotions;
Provide specialized correctional training to staff that are assigned to work with the SYTF population;
Advocate for infrastructure improvements to make the juvenile halls safe; and
Improve the working conditions and morale of Probation staff.
The health, wellness, and safety of Local 685 members is critical to running an effective juvenile services operation. It’s time for a change. A new Probation executive leadership team is needed that is familiar with the internal juvenile and adult services operations of the Department and is responsive to the community.
During this time of transition, we urge members to continue our resolve to provide professional Probation services to the youth and adults that are committed in L.A. County Probation’s jurisdiction.
We will continue to keep you updated on our efforts to close our contract in this changing environment so that we can support and work with the new executive administration.
Solidarity Forever, United We Stand, Together We are Stronger!
Sincerely,
Your Local 685 Executive Board
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