Social workers and top SEIU 721 staff including Executive Director John Tanner met with LA County CEO Bill Fujioka and Deputy CEO Antonia Jimenez Thursday, Oct. 7 to deliver a strong message about the need for urgent improvement and change within the child welfare system.
Fujioka said the county “has to get through this reactive phase.”
“I have only one goal and that’s to make the department work better. I wouldn’t be here if I was just going to blow smoke at you guys. I am serious,” Fujioka said.
Social workers detailed to Fujioka the countless meetings with all five offices of the Board of Supervisors and Department of Children and Family Services leadership, including Trish Ploehn, about our formal recommendations for change, but only incremental change has resulted so far.
In fact, the crisis in ER has worsened. Between July and August 2009, ER Over 30 cases rose 73 percent and by November 2009 they had increased 365 percent.
Fujioka committed to:
- “Policy intervention.” Fujioka said “we need one set of policies and procedures for the department that everyone understands.” He committed to create a team this week including social workers to help draft and/or review policies before they are implemented.
- Training. Social workers will officially join DCFS’s Training Project Team.
- Department review. The CEO has assigned 8-10 staff people to conduct a review of the department in advance of a full Board-mandated management audit and promised to include social workers in the audit process.
- Consistency. All 18 DCFS offices must operate in the same manner, he said.
- ER Backlog. The CEO’s office is committed to reviewing and improving the process for handling ER cases, including Over 60s, and workers will join the already established team.
“The assumption is we are looking for blame. We are not. We need policies and procedures that make sense from a line perspective.”
Bill Fujioka
LA County CEO
“We are concerned about the level of fear that permeates across the department.”
Blanca Gomez, MSW Children’s Social Worker
“In my 30 years as a social worker in LA County DCFS I have never seen it so bad. We have to see change immediately.”
Tony Bravo
Supervising Children’s Social Worker
“We are lacking consistency among the 18 offices. We need consistency in training and in policies.”
Mike Ross
Supervising Children’s Social Worker
“Morale within the department is a big issue. We need to get back to the core mission of the department.”
Antonia Jimenez
Deputy CEO
LA County
“We need the county to recognize the intensity of the situation.”
John Tanner
Executive Director
SEIU 721
Please include someone from the Child Protection Hotline on this (these) committees. We have a bird’s eye view of what’s going on within the department and the type of problems being reported to us. Plus, we are part of the department and need to be represented. We are the front line of the front line – and we affect everything the department does.