Supervisors Seek Grand Jury Probe of Children’s Shelter

Stung by a continuing torrent of reports of abuse at Los Angeles County’s emergency children’s shelter, including a recent television news story alleging that a prostitution ring may be operating out of the facility, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday called for a grand jury investigation of possible criminal activity by staff members.

The grand jury should use its subpoena power to question under oath current and former employees of MacLaren Children’s Center, as well as “other interested parties,” the board said.

Supervisor Pete Schabarum, who asked for the probe, said it is needed to “clear the air relative to the stream of allegations” about the county’s shelter for abused and neglected children.

Audrey Collins, a deputy district attorney who advises the grand jury, said the request would “certainly be considered” by the panel and possibly referred to the district attorney’s office for preliminary investigation.

The troubled children’s facility in El Monte, which was taken over last year by the county’s new Department of Children’s Services, has been rocked by continuing allegations of mistreatment of children. The charges have come in news reports and from members of the board-appointed Commission for Children’s Services and include allegations of unreported physical abuse, as well as a variety of lapses in the care of children at the crowded shelter.

A recent news report by KABC-TV, based largely on anonymous sources, suggested that a prostitution ring may be arranging for men to have sex with minor girls staying at the facility, that there is drug use by staff members and possibly children, and that the death of an infant was concealed.

Schabarum said the reports “must either be substantiated or repudiated once and for all.” Last week, Schabarum asked Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner to investigate the latest allegations and to aggressively seek prosecution of any staff members who failed to report child abuse as required by state law.

A spokesman for the district attorney’s office said the request “is being actively pursued.” In addition, the spokesman said an investigation is continuing into alleged drug sales and sexual molestation charges involving MacLaren Center staff members. As part of that investigation, two former MacLaren Children’s Center employees pleaded no contest Monday to charges of selling cocaine to other staff members at the facility.

The request for a formal grand jury investigation was welcomed by members of the Commission for Children’s Services, the new interim director of the Department of Children’s Services and the head of the union that represents most of the 381 employees at MacLaren.

“We applaud Supervisor Schabarum’s motion,” said Dick Shumsky, president of the Deputy Probation Officers Union. “We haven’t seen proof of a problem. We don’t care if people are fired. We want to see that these things are reported. We believe they are reported.”

Helen Kleinberg, chairman of the board-appointed Commission for Children’s Services, said: “We’re very pleased. Over a period of time there have been so many allegations, we’d like to find out what’s true, clean up the place and start over.”

Schabarum, who has been sharply critical of the commission, postponed a threatened move to cut back the panel’s size and independent staff. Last week, after Lola Hobbs resigned under fire as director of the Department of Children’s Services, Schabarum partially blamed the commission’s activism for Hobbs’ problems in administering the department.

However, board Chairman Ed Edelman has praised the work of the commission and vowed to fight any effort to reduce its independence and authority.

Some key members of the commission met privately with Schabarum on Monday, but the supervisor said Tuesday he has not abandoned his plan to seek changes in the commission.