By Barnett Wright | The Birmingham Times
Monique Grier, who has been director of Jefferson County’s G. Ross Bell Youth Detention Center since October 2017, announced last week that she will resign.
“I want to thank the commission for the opportunity and for the support over these last eight years, I’ve enjoyed working here,” Grier told Jefferson County Commissioners during a committee meeting. “I’ve enjoyed working with the children.”
Grier said that she will take a job in metro Atlanta which she described as “managing director”, but it won’t be in government.
“I’ll be still doing the same type of work,” she said after the committee meeting. “I’ll be working reentry services, community housing … helping families, serving those that continue to be disenfranchised, but not on the criminal justice side.”
The departing director said she’s leaving the Youth Detention Center in a good place. “Everything is settled. Everything is in place. There are no vacancies. The education program is set. We have all of the teachers; we have all of the counselors.”
Deputy Director Juan Sepulveda will serve as interim until a permanent director is selected.
Grier was recruited to Jefferson County after supervising the Faith and Justice unit of the Georgia Department of Community Supervision for nearly two years. Prior to that, she was the statewide community partnership coordinator for the Georgia Department Juvenile Justice.
Law enforcement has long been a part of Grier’s life. Her mother retired as a lieutenant of security from the Department of Juvenile Justice in Georgia. Her stepfather retired from the Georgia Department of Corrections and was on loan to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation as a fugitive investigator. Law enforcement was even part of her family’s TV-viewing choices.
Grier earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Georgia State University and a master’s degree in public safety administration through the Georgia Command College at Columbus State University.
