Youth Services deputy commissioner named second in command of Probation Department

Crystal Collier, deputy commissioner of administration and finance at the state’s Department of Youth Services, has been appointed second in command of the state’s probation department by current probation commissioner — and Collier’s former boss — Edward J. Dolan.

As first deputy commissioner for probation, Collier will oversee the arm of the court system’s daily operations starting Nov. 4 under Dolan, who served as the youth services department’s commissioner until being named head of probation in May.

Collier, who began her career as an assistant district attorney in Queens in 1997, started at the Department of Youth Services in 2008 as the central office’s director of operations before becoming chief of staff there in 2011. She was promoted to deputy commissioner there in April, according to her resume.

Collier has also previously served as human rights director for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, and executive director for the Family Connection Center for Visitation, Inc. in Vermont, her resume states.

Dolan was appointed the commissioner of probation this spring appointment after the Boston Globe Spotlight team investigated the hiring of politically connected job applicants whether they were the most qualified or not. The 2010 Spotlight investigation detailed extensive cronyism and disregard for merit in hiring and promotion in the department.

Former probation commissioner John J. O’Brien resigned in 2010 and now faces a federal indictment charging him with 17 counts of bribery for allegedly handing out jobs to the friends, family, and supporters of state legislators in exchange for political favors.