The long-time executive director of Montgomery County's juvenile detention facility in West Norriton has been dismissed from her position, sources have told Patch.
Maureen Raquet was dismissed from her position on Thursday and did not return to the Montgomery County Youth Center for work on Friday.
According to sources, Raquet's dismissal followed several weeks of interviews of facility personnel by representatives of the county's human resources department.
Staff at the center confirmed that Raquet was not on the premises Friday morning and Assistant Director David Zikosky referred Patch to Montgomery County Director of Communications Frank Custer for comment.
Custer, reached by telephone Friday morning, would neither confirm nor deny Raquet's dismissal and said the county would not comment on personnel issues.
Raquet was contacted by phone Friday morning, but declined to comment on the matter.
Friday afternoon, sources confirmed that Shelter Supervisor Mark Wykle was also dismissed.
The cause of the staffing changes is unknown, but a former employee for the center described the shake-up as being the result of complaints of a hostile work environment by many staff members.
Raquet was hired by the county as a juvenile probation officer in 1980 and was named executive director of the center in 2000. Wykle was hired as a counselor at the center in 1990 and made shelter supervisor in 2008. Both were given the opportunity to officially resign their positions.
The detention center houses up to 36 juvenile detainees in a secure detention wing and can hold another 12 youths in a reduced-security shelter wing. Juveniles are housed at the center while they await hearings in juvenile court.
Patch will update this story as more information becomes available.
