This Sunday, the Los Angeles Times ran an article critical of DCFS Director Trish Ploehn and the Board of Supervisors' handling of recent child fatalities.
Reforming Child Welfare
Who is the SUPER SOCIAL WORKER in your office?
March is National Social Workers Month. Social Workers in SEIU 721 will recognize and celebrate our contributions throughout Southern California.
Department Head Listens to Recommendations from the Line, Adds Staff and Overtime to Aid 'Over 30s'
Over the last couple of weeks a team of social workers and SEIU 721 staff met with children's deputies in all five Board of Supervisors offices and with top DCFS management about our recommendations to improve child welfare in Los Angeles County.
Following those meetings, a group of management including Director Trish Ploehn met via phone conference Feb. 10. Social workers encouraged DCFS management to allocate the proper resources to close cases over 30 and best ensure children are safe and their cases are up to date.
Ploehn agreed to:
- Authorize overtime up to 94 hours per social worker per month for all CSWs in ER.
- Allow each office to create a team devoted to working on over 30 cases and authorized overtime for members of this team. The supervising social worker on this team will also qualify for overtime.
- Open offices on Saturdays.
Social workers discussed the need to focus attention on emergency response in meetings with children's deputies for the county supervisors. They also discussed social worker recommendations:
- Allocate necessary resources to ER. Social workers talked about the more than 16,000 children in LA County in an over 30 status and the need to properly address the situation.
- Access to forensic medical attention. All five Board offices shared that they are working with DHS, DMH and DCFS to get hubs up and running throughout the county.
- Coaching and mentoring. Social workers discussed the need to revise the ICU core academy, the 9-week training academy for all CSWs, so that it's more practical. This would include reinstituting training units that are full supported with reduced caseloads and lead CSWs.
- Basic tools. Social workers raised concerns about the lack of resources including access to working copy and fax machines and cell phones for supervising children's social workers.
In response, Martha Molina, children's deputy for Supervisor Gloria Molina said: "Every social worker should have a laptop and every supervising social worker should have a cell phone."
Social workers in Los Angeles County are speaking out to correct the record after a misleading article was published in the Los Angeles Times.
Today Judge Michael Nash, who presides over the Los Angeles County Juvenile Court, joined the chorus with an opinion piece entitled "Family over foster care is still a priority in L.A. County."
Social workers have submitted letters to the editor to the LA Times stating particularly that keeping families together is a primary goal of social work. (Read the letters below.)
"Fundamentally our work depends on not only keeping children safe and out of harm's way, but helping create an environment where children can thrive. Whenever possible we reunite families because that is the best place for children to succeed," said Blanca Gomez, a children's social worker.
The article, which was later corrected by the newspaper, implied that the County is ending its emphasis on family reunification. In a follow-up article Department of Children and Family Services Director Trish Ploehn said "the department continues to remain steadfast in its commitment to reducing the number of children in foster care and to increasing the number of family reunifications." You can read the entire article here.
The original article, "County to end emphasis on family over foster care," is now entitled "L.A. County shifts approach to children in foster care."
Social Workers Weigh In:
Dear Editor:
Your article "County to end emphasis on family over foster care" (Feb. 5) implies a shift that just hasn't happened. Good social work is dependent on working with families and giving them the resources they need to get on track and create a stable home life. As long as I am a social worker in Los Angeles County this will remain my goal.
Walter R. White, MSW
Children's Social Worker, LA County DCFS
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Dear Editor:
Social work is not easy. Fundamentally our work depends on not only keeping children safe and out of harm's way, but helping create an environment where children can thrive. Whenever possible we reunite families because that is the best place for children to succeed.
Your article "County to end emphasis on family over foster care" (Feb. 5) implies a shift that just hasn't happened. Good social work is dependent on working with families and giving them the resources they need to get on track and create a stable home life. As long as I am a social worker in Los Angeles County this will remain my goal.
Sincerely,
Blanca Gomez, MSW
Children's Social Worker, LA County DCFS
Team Discusses Recommendations to Improve Child Welfare in LA with Directors
Social workers and SEIU staff met with DCFS Director Trish Ploehn Jan. 20 to discuss recommendations to improve child welfare, working conditions and department operations.
The team presented our report: Reforming Reforming the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services: Recommendations from Los Angeles County social workers" directly to Ploehn and her executive team.
The recommendations are the product of hundreds of hours of work and dozens of interviews by a committee of social workers comprised of Children's Social Workers and Supervising Children's Social workers representing a variety of specialties and units.
The recommendations outline a vision for DCFS where social workers have:
- The resources we need to do quality social work like access to computers, phones, fax machines and copy machines.
- Improved mentoring and coaching including improvements to the training academy.
- Enhances departmental policies including revising burdensome policies.
- Improved coordination between LA County departments so that workers have access to the most relevant and up to date information.
- Increased access to medical hubs, including increasing the number of 24-hour medical hubs from one to three.
"DCFS is under pressure to change and it's time they listen to workers on the line. Our recommendations provide a framework that can truly improve the experience for social workers and the families we serve."
Lorraine Cavuoti SCSW Torrance
"This isn't rocket science, we know what it takes to move forward, but the department doesn't change unless it has to. We are constantly reminding them and the Board of Supervisors that we can work together and achieve positive outcomes."
Mike Ross, SCSW
El Monte DCFS
Next Steps:
1. DCFS management reported that they are already considering several changes that overlap with social workers' recommendations. We will respond to their commentary on our recommendations.
2. We are also starting another round of meetings with the child welfare deputies of the Board of Supervisors to talk to them about our vision next week. Then we will schedule a follow up meeting with top DCFS.
If you are a former member of SEIU Local 535, your union dues have been lowered.
A team of social workers has been meeting with DCFS management to improve policies and training related to emergency response work with the goal of improving results for workers, children and families.
Above: Social workers from the South County office display their "super social worker" T-shirts.
Social workers gathered Saturday, Oct. 17, for a forum on reforming the child welfare system.
Participants heard firsthand about intensive efforts underway to work with the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the public, community groups and experts to ensure social workers are heard and our recommendations for system reform are embraced.
Voices from "Reforming the Child Welfare System...From the Ground Up" on Saturday, Oct. 17:
This just in...social workers attending the forum Reforming Child Welfare...From the Ground Up will receive a special limited edition t-shirt specially designed for Oct. 17.
