HispanicBusiness

Although jobs are scarce almost everywhere, Los Angeles County is adding nearly 500 employees to handle the increased workload created by the shift of state parolees to local jurisdiction.

The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to spend $33.7 million through December to beef up the Sheriff's, Probation and other departments tasked with supervising thousands of low-level felons sentenced or paroled after Oct. 1.

Because the so-called realignment program is already under way, some Probation workers have already seen their caseloads double or even triple in size.

That department received $8.9 million to hire 172 workers.

The Sheriff's Department was allotted $18 million to add 234 new deputies for its jails, and 44 more to pursue absconding parolees.

County jails are expected to take in 5,600 additional inmates through December who otherwise would have been incarcerated in state prisons.

Sheriff Lee Baca plans to add 1,700 beds in county jails, and 800 more in camps where inmates can be trained to build containment lines for the county Fire Department.

The Department of Mental Health plans to take on 26 workers, including psychiatrists, psychologists, substance abuse counselors and social workers. Also hiring are the District Attorney, Public Defender, Alternate Public Defender and Department of Public Health.