A Mess in L.A. Probation Dept.

The Los Angeles County Probation Department is spending millions on overtime pay but may not have the funds to maintain its rehabilitation camps for juvenile delinquents. This smells of mismanagement and requires a prompt answer from acting Chief Probation Officer Walter J. Kelly. That’s if Kelly wants the word “acting” removed from his job title.

The problem, outlined in a recent Times report, centers on the whopping $20.3 million in overtime the department paid last fiscal year, an increase over the past five years of more than 500%. And the department is on pace to spend $22.3 million more on overtime this year.

Increased overtime is not just a Los Angeles problem. In Orange County, overtime pay to county workers jumped by more than 50% last fiscal year, reaching a post-bankruptcy high. But it’s noteworthy that the Orange County Probation Department has computerized tracking to chart each pay period and reduce overtime use. Los Angeles County should take note.

There is no satisfying answer to the Los Angeles problems, despite a new audit. Record-keeping on overtime at the department has been shoddy. Payments were not documented or determined to be necessary in the first place.

The facts point to a poorly managed department, one responsible for the supervision of 96,000 adults and juveniles. What other than mismanagement could explain all that overtime when the department could have spent less money filling some of its 400 current vacancies?

Kelly claims he was hamstrung in filling positions because of a county hiring freeze. If the supervisors have given Kelly mixed signals on what he could or could not do, the board should have to answer for it. “He appears to have the authorized positions,” said David Janssen, Los Angeles County’s chief administrative officer. “He ought to fill them.”

Kelly blames in part an “institutionalized” department culture that has persuaded managers that it is cheaper to pay overtime than to fill vacant positions, and he cites “minimal written policies and procedures. . . .” Talk about a situation ripe for abuse.

The timing too is lousy. The Probation Department bungled its chance at a chunk of a $50-million grant from the state for juvenile crime programs. That came against a backdrop of partisan squabbling in Sacramento in which Democrats and Gov. Pete Wilson, a Republican, shot down each others’ juvenile crime prevention programs. That means every local dollar has to be spent wisely.

A Times series last year called for an audit of the Sheriff’s Department’s myriad budget troubles and for audits of other county departments as well. The Probation Department mess is another clear indication of that need.