Supervisors call for further study of probation billing

Los Angeles County supervisors called this week for a deeper investigation into the controversial billing of parents and guardians of youths held in detention. At issue is whether a newly released definition of the moratorium declared six weeks ago fails to address possible mistakes made in the past.

The moratorium terms publicly released Tuesday are narrow: Parents and guardians who agreed to payment plans before Feb. 16 are still obligated to pay, and the department is actively pursuing those debts, as well as seizing state tax refunds and placing liens on parents’ homes.

“I would have preferred a complete moratorium on everything,” said Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. “The county did not properly vet all the people about their economic ability to pay, as the state law requires.”

The definition released by Probation Chief Robert Taylor limits the moratorium to bills dated after Feb. 16.

Supervisor Gloria Molina, who complained last week that she was not sure what to tell constituents who called asking whether they should pay probation, said she was satisfied with Taylor’s definition.

But Molina, who backs the policy of holding parents and guardians financially responsible, said probation needs to investigate its “heavy-handed” approach to billing and better notify parents of what the moratorium means. “We’re not opposed to them paying, we just want it to be upfront,” Molina said.

Los Angeles County charges $11.94 a day for probation camps and $23.63 a day for juvenile halls. By law, the county can bill parents and legal guardians, but only those who can afford to pay.

In some cases, however, the county aggressively pursued people who were not liable, including a special education teacher who had taken in 16-year old twins he met while volunteering through his church at a county juvenile hall.

He was billed nearly $10,000, debts that dated to before the boys lived with him, and had a lien placed on his house. The probation department canceled his bill only after he went to Yaroslavsky for help.

In another case, the county spent nearly $13,000 on private attorneys to pursue a Compton woman’s $1,004 debt for her granddaughter’s stay in detention.

“There’s a cloud that has descended upon this whole collection program,” Yaroslavsky said. “The concern is that the judgments that have been asked for are questionable in some cases -- we don’t know how many cases -- and the collections may be questionable.”

Taylor first announced the moratorium Feb. 13, after The Times and children’s advocates raised questions about improper billing.

At that time he said, “We’re not going to collect any money or send out any letters until we have a chance to examine how we do this.”

A group approved by the supervisors last week to review probation billing policies and report back within 90 days has not yet scheduled a meeting.

Anyone with questions about probation bills is asked to call (323) 357-5557.

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molly.hennessy-fiske @latimes.com