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LA County supervisors to grab control of Probation, Children and Family Services
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Los Angeles County Chief Executive Officer Bill Fujioka explains his proposed 2011-2012 budget to a reporter at a news briefing at the Hall of Administration.
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The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has voted to take direct control of a pair of problem departments - Probation and Children and Family Services. The two departments might be L.A. County government’s biggest headaches.
L.A. County supervisors hired a new Probation boss last year about the same time auditors couldn’t find about $80 million that was supposed to pay for more Probation staff. The department now has to cut 200 staffers under a plan the supervisors have OK’d.
But if Probation is the supervisors’ Excedrin headache, Children and Family Services is their migraine. Every report of a child who dies in the department’s care is a headline. Too many headlines – and out went the director late last year.
A deputy to County Chief Executive Officer William Fujioka took over – but last week, she quit over how much confidential material from child abuse investigations she should share with county supervisors.
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They’ll get their share now. They’ve voted to have Probation and Children and Family Services report directly to them, and not to Fujioka. That’s trouble for the county’s Chief Executive Officer – and it arises as he tries to balance an out-of-balance budget.
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