Embattled Children’s Agency Chief Quits

The embattled director of Los Angeles County’s new Department of Children’s Services resigned Thursday in the face of mounting pressure from the Board of Supervisors.

Under an agreement approved by the board, Lola Hobbs, who was named to head the department only six months ago, will be paid $37,300, about six months’ salary.

The resignation, which ended weeks of closed-door board sessions and speculation on Hobbs’ future, was effective immediately. Board members said Hobbs’ departure will trigger a re-evaluation of how the board has set up its administration and oversight of the troubled, 2,000-employee department, first of its kind in the nation.

One focus of the review will be the size and role of the board’s 15-member Commission for Children’s Services, which has been aggressive in highlighting alleged mistreatment of children at MacLaren Children’s Center, the county’s main emergency shelter for abused and neglected children. There was friction between Hobbs and some commissioners, particularly after Hobbs requested that they stop making unannounced visits to the facility.

A former top administrator in the San Diego County Department of Social Services, Hobbs had been criticized by some board members and county managers for her style of management and slow progress in gearing up the department, which was created in response to growing concern over mistreatment of children in county custody and over child abuse. Hobbs was given the task of pulling together several children’s services that had been fragmented among welfare, adoptions and probation agencies.

“It didn’t click,” said Supervisor Kenneth Hahn after the resignation agreement was approved. While praising Hobbs as a “strong” and “good” person, he said the department has been “like a ship without a rudder . . . floundering at sea.”

Hobbs had insisted last week in the face of reports of her imminent departure that she had no intention of stepping down. “I took the job with the expectation that it would be a tough job, and it has, and with the understanding that there were many problems, and there are,” she told The Times last week. “I’m committed to this department.”

Hobbs declined to be interviewed Thursday, but in a prepared statement she said: “I feel that there should be a fresh start, which will hopefully allow the department to move forward with the resolution of substantive issues.” She added that “circumstances and the controversy around my position impeded the department in moving forward.”

Supervisor Pete Schabarum, who had opposed creation of the new department but in the end became Hobbs’ strongest defender, blasted other board members--Ed Edelman, Michael Antonovich and Hahn--for their handling of the affair. He said the board majority had not reined in the Children’s Services Commission and failed to support Hobbs in the face of criticism from employees and the commissioners. He predicted that the board’s handling of the matter will make it difficult to attract top-flight applicants for the job.

“We are in worse shape in terms of dealing with the problems of child abuse than we were a year ago,” he said.

John Rossi, vice chairman of the Children’s Services Commission, said the turmoil has left the department back where it started five months ago. He said complaints of mistreatment of children at MacLaren Center continue and the department “stands without direction or policy at this point. . . . And where are the kids in the meantime?”

Edelman, who led the drive for creation of the department and the commission, said some changes may be needed. Rejecting suggestions that the controversy surrounding Hobbs has been a major setback, he said he expects the county to move quickly on improving children’s services. In response to Schabarum’s comments, he praised the commission’s work and said he will fight any effort to reduce its power.

The board appointed Chief Administrative Office James C. Hankla as acting director of the department while a search is conducted for a new director. Hankla announced that Robert L. Chaffee, a 20-year administrator in the county’s welfare department, will be interim director, overseeing day-to-day operations.

Edelman said Chaffee’s top priorities will be improving treatment of children at MacLaren Center, increasing the number of foster homes and relieving a logjam of paper work in court cases involving the custody and care of abused and neglected children.