LA County Probation Department eliminates management jobs

In an “unprecedented restructuring” that was “largest of its kind in the country,” the Los Angeles County Probation Department has cut an entire management tier, the department announced Friday.

The changes in the 6,600-employee agency affect 14 top managers with the elimination of 13 bureau-chief positions, according to the department. The bureau chiefs were in charge of adult and juvenile operations and administrative services.

Those affected by the changes are being offered positions in other county agencies.

The move was intended to help facilitate within the organization faster implementation of new policies, clearer lines of authority, improved internal feedback and more transparency. A command structure without bureau chiefs “also pushes decision-making closer to personnel who interact with adult probationers, youth, their families, county partner agencies, and the public,” officials said.

“This management restructuring represents a major step towards resizing and reorienting the Department under the County’s ‘Care First, Jails Last’ initiative to enact criminal justice reform,” Probation Department Chief Guillermo Viera Rosa said in a statement.

“A streamlined organization will not only allow us to enact internal reforms more effectively, but it will also align us better with the new County Departments of Youth Development, and Justice Care and Opportunities,” he added.

At the Probation Department’s request, LA County CEO Fesia Davenport’s office asked the Board of Supervisors to expedite the staff revamp by eliminating funding for the 13 bureau chiefs as part of the of the county’s revised budget that the board approved this week.