COMPTON – Social workers in South L.A. have reunited thousands of children with their families since an office opened here in 2005 to target this high-need area, home to nearly one-quarter of the 35,000 children who receive child-welfare services in L.A. County. But overcrowding threatens to stall this success story.

“Compton social workers work hard to keep families together. That’s what our community asked for, and we’re listening. But we need the tools necessary to build on our success,” said social worker Patricia Placencia.

Social workers in the Compton office connect families with services such as domestic violence prevention and mental health care – crucial ingredients in what is called “family preservation.” Despite dramatic results, they are forced to share desks, phones, and computers at the office, where they meet with families to monitor their progress and ensure children’s needs are addressed immediately.

Office space is available nearby, but County officials have dragged their feet to set a deadline for moving some workers to ease the space crunch. On April 10, state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas met Compton social workers and offered his assistance. Labor representatives raised the issue at an April 22 countywide meeting with the Department of Children and Family Services. But County leaders refused to commit to a move date, meaning overcrowding will continue.

More than 50 social workers held a break-time demonstration to draw attention to the problems and request immediate action. “We are united in preventing children from falling out of their families, and that means we have to move fast to get services to families on the brink,” said Placencia. “We need our County leaders to recognize that.”

They were joined by speakers from the national Children’s Defense Fund and Community Coalition, a nonprofit group based in South L.A. working to keep children united with grandparents and other kin when they can not be with their parents. Across the country, grandparents and other relatives rallied today in Washington, D.C., over the importance of keeping children with family members when they can not be with their parents.