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.
SEIU 721 Executive Director John Tanner, who was quoted in the article, told the reporter in an extended conversation, that we are encouraged that Ploehn is taking social workers’ recommendations for system reform seriously.
“Insight from frontline workers is essential to reforming the child welfare system to best carry out the department’s mandate. That’s our perspective.”
Tanner invited LA Times reporter Garrett Therolf and all five Supervisors to personally walk a day in the shoes of social workers, shadowing them on emergency referrals, so they can get a real sense of social work up close rather than talking in generalities.
“If everyone shadows a social worker, we can refocus disucssion on specifics that need to be changed,”
said Mellonie Freeman, an emergency response CSW in Pomona.
“Fixing problems in the system means less finger pointing and more rolling up our sleeves and getting down to brass tacks,” Tanner said.
You can read social workers extensive recommendations, which have been presented to all five offices of the LA County Board of Supervisors, DCFS department heads and the Los Angeles Times here.
You can read the article, “As more L.A. County children die, reform still falters,” here.