Social Worker Update: DPSS Considers ‘Command-Post’ Model

Just a couple of weeks after 40 Riverside social workers flooded the Board of Supervisors to call for an end the current “stand-by/call-back” system and offer alternate proposals, the County - under the leadership of Interim Director Dennis Boyle - appears to be addressing this serious issue with thoughtfulness and speed.

The Department of Public Social Services says it is considering implementation of a “command-post” model similar to systems used in Los Angeles and Orange counties. 

“Look what we did! Social workers gave a morning of our time and we were able to make great strides in reforming social work for children in Riverside county,” said Stephen Butler, program specialist in the policy/admin compliance unit at Child Protective Services and a member of SEIU 721’s Executive Board.

“The progress has come so quickly -- if this were stock you would run out and buy 1,000 shares! We’re hopeful a new system that doesn’t mandate extra after-hours work will be implemented this summer.”