Riverside County Juvenile Probation Department

To complete staffing at all facilities, including the newer ones, an extraordinary number (283) of approved openings for Group Counselors now exists. The Probation Department is currently short of recruiting and processing personnel to bring these new employees on board in a timely manner. 1

New units and/or facilities take priority for assignment of available personnel. Until a sufficient number of new people are hired, staff is transferred or borrowed from existing units. Those units are then subject to closure and juveniles must be moved to wherever space permits.

Section 1321, Article 3, Title 15, of the Board of Corrections Regulations specifies minimum staffing requirements which must be met before a new facility is opened. In addition, restrictions on the $5,000,000 grant received for the Southwest Juvenile Hall, required that it be opened within 90 days of completion.

The first step in hiring a new Group Counselor is the written state test. Riverside County administers this test quarterly. San Bernardino County has weekly testing, which provides a steady stream of potential employees entering the system. For every 100 people who begin the process in Riverside, only 13 will eventually be hired. Thus, to hire 283 Group Counselors currently needed, approximately 2,175 candidates must be recruited.

To address this critical need for recruiting and hiring the required additional personnel, the Probation Department recently submitted a request to the Board of Supervisors for 3 senior people and one clerk. Only the clerk was approved.

Many juveniles in detention have a history of methamphetamine use which may have serious after effects on the brain and central nervous system. The abuse of alcohol, cocaine, heroin, and other drugs also continues to create problems. Section 1321 requires that “sufficient” mental health staff be available so that other staff not be diverted from supervising minors.

There is no inpatient drug and alcohol treatment facility in Riverside County for juveniles. Whenever such placement is ordered, the juvenile must be sent to an Orange or Los Angeles County facility, or to private placement, which is extremely costly and can be located far from the minor’s home. Family involvement is difficult under such circumstances.

As a result of working parents who commute long distances and the increase in single-parent families, many juveniles receive little or no supervision at home. Consequently, many high risk “latch key kids” within Riverside County are coming in contact with law enforcement and juvenile probation services at an earlier age. 2