Crusaders need a battle, and that’s just what the new head of Los Angeles’ Child Welfare Agency has. She has an all-out war to reform a department that has been riddled by controversy and financial constraints.
Facts point to a service disparity, with more affluent areas receiving more and more timely services, while blighted areas like Compton are overlooked.
With long hours, an eye for detail, and mind for reform, Antonia Jimenez certainly is in for a long fight.
From the Los Angeles Times:
A conversation with Antonia Jiménez is marked by paradox – her ability to define problems by the numbers is leavened by a careful skepticism of what statistics really mean; her hard-nosed professional assessments give way to hints that she is personally a little shy.
Jiménez – the daughter of a single mother who stitched and ironed in New York City factories – rose to important jobs in Massachusetts state government. Her climb, colleagues say, was fueled by a zeal to provide disadvantaged schoolchildren, public hospital patients and other government service recipients with the same efficiency and standards found in the upper reaches of the private sector.
By the time Jiménez arrived late last year to serve as a top deputy for Los Angeles County’s chief executive, she had a reputation for being a turnaround expert – and her new employers were in desperate need of one.
Read the full article here.
