Los Angeles County

For weeks, the unrelenting push by 721 members to eradicate bullying at LAC+USC and every DHS facility has put the perpetrators on notice, and has compelled CEOs from LAC+USC, MLK Outpatient Center and Harbor-UCLA to publicly acknowledge the bully crisis! Now comes the ultimate news from LAC+USC Administrators: they are moving beyond admitting there is a bully problem and are firmly committed to taking concrete steps to address the bullying epidemic head on.  

Count another small victory for the 721 members who have blown the doors open on exposing the bully crisis at DHS, and are leading the way to fix it! MLK Outpatient Center (OPC) CEO Cynthia M. Oliver joins the growing list of DHS Facilities’ Chief Executive Officers who are stepping forward in acknowledging and condemning bullying behavior via department wide memos.

On the heels of holding Solidarity Actions at DHS Facilities stretching from the Antelope Valley to the Los Angeles Harbor area, 721’s LA County Health Professionals came out in full force on April 27th for a critical follow-up meeting with DHS Chief Mitch Katz to move the County a step closer to ending the bullying crisis.  The passionate group of over 150 people in attendance and Dr. Mitch Katz reached a consensus on forming an emergency labor-management task force ready to push for immediate action and find comprehensive long-term solutions to end the crisis once and for all. 

Now the date has finally arrived to get an update from Dr. Katz himself on his investigation into the bullying situation at DHS, and the corrective actions he’s taken so far, along with the long-term solutions to end the issue once and for all.

We’re not just stopping there. During the next 10 days, Social Workers throughout LA County will be mobilizing with a series of actions to take a stand against the criminalization of Social Workers and let County leaders know that scapegoating our hard work will not make children any safer.