County messing with CPS

6/09 tahoe mt. news unedited

By Kathryn Reed

A flurry of meetings has resulted in Child Protective Services caseworkers not being relocated to Placerville.
A May 21 letter dictated most South Lake Tahoe-based CPS employees work out of Placerville as of June 20. That letter created an outcry the West Slope clearly heard.
“I have notified people from welfare, union stewards and CPS we are rescinding the letter (on June 8), but it is not off the table,” El Dorado County Supervisor Norma Santiago said. This gives the county an out in case the financial situation deteriorates.
Santiago met privately with about a couple dozen Department of Health Services employees the night of June 3 . Acting director of DHS, Jan Walker-Conroy, has also been meeting with staff to clarify the situation. Walker-Conroy did not return calls.
Workers are staying for now, but that doesn’t mean everyone is happy with the work they do. Tahoe Victims of CPS has a permit to protest in front of CPS offices on Silver Dollar Avenue on June 12 at 1pm. Permits are being sought for a July 1 8am-noon protest outside family court at the Tahoe branch of the El Dorado County Courthouse.
“We have numerous individuals come to us about abuse of children and who have been recklessly endangered,” said Kim Cotter, a concerned activist.
Ernie Claudio, another activist and former Court Appointed Special Advocates volunteer, said the necessary papers have been filed for the grand jury to investigate CPS.
Claudio told the Board of Supervisors on June 2 about CPS issues.
“My plan is to go to every Board of Supervisors’ meeting and bring people who have horror stories,” Claudio said.

Employee issues

Santiago said the consolidation of county offices at the Lake is necessary to save money. That’s why CPS workers were told to work from Placerville. The county rents or leases a number of offices in South Lake. Now the county will look to have departments share space in Tahoe instead of moving to Placerville.
However, Mark Contois, acting assistant director of DHS, said the reason the seven people -- four social workers, a supervisor, office assistant and case aide – were being transferred was to better distribute the caseload and that money had no role. He did not provide the number of CPS cases for either side of the county.
Although it’s not an employer’s issue where people live, one person who was going to have to commute to Placerville lives in Dayton and another is in Gardnerville. Caseworkers even offered to give up their Tahoe differential of about $250/month to remain headquartered in the basin. To them it is about the people they serve.
Contois’ statement about money not being part of the equation also contradicts the El Dorado County Child Welfare System Improvement Plan that went into effect the day after the May 21 letter was sent.
That document, which is required by the state and has been in the works since last fall, says, “The current global economic decline and state budget cuts have impacted the county and created uncertainties relative to future funding availability. The concurrent increased need for services exceeds available resources.”
Another money issue exists -- more staff is needed. About six social workers were let go in the 2008-09 fiscal year because of cuts from the state.
An employee, who didn’t want to be identified, said, “The way the economy is we are overwhelmed in the welfare department.” This person said it is impacting children and the services provided.
“We understand and appreciate the need for these services. The one thing we do not want is to cut any additional social workers,” Santiago said.
With Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposing to slash CalWorks – the welfare to work program – that could be devastating to the county. Forty-five people work in that program just in El Dorado County. Santiago questions the governor’s motives with that proposal, saying, “… you are going to keep people on welfare.”
The supervisor admits the county’s decision to relocate CPS workers to Placerville was not well thought out and called it poor communication.
Department of Human Services employees were upset with management before the CPS relocation came to light. Concerns are related to the decisions management is making – promotions for Placerville workers, but not Tahoe; the Board of Supervisors not being informed; personnel issues in Tahoe not being addressed.
Another county worker confirmed the information supervisors receives from staff contradicts what management says.
A person of authority outside the county who works with children said of DHS, “The leadership over there is ridiculous.”
Some speculate Walker-Conroy and Contois may soon be out, especially as key positions are filled. This month a human resources director comes on board.

Local reaction

Child advocates on the South Shore could not find any good reasons to ship caseworkers to Placerville and were most distraught about what this would mean to children and families in South Lake Tahoe.
Leanne Wagoner with the South Lake Tahoe Women’s Center, Alissa Nourse of Tahoe Youth & Family Services, and Wendy David of Court Appointed Special Advocates are the local representatives to the county’s Child Abuse Prevention Council. They were a united front in condemning the decision to uproot the social workers.
Wagoner in a letter to Walker-Conroy dated May 27 asks, “How is this decision ensuring a best possible outcome for children living in South Lake Tahoe?”
She went on to remind the DHS acting director what the goals are for CPS as well as quoting back to her details from the improvement plan that outline how difficult it is for the county to retain social workers and that an increase in neglect and abuse is predicted as the economy goes south.
Nourse said the contradictory information coming from the county compounds the issue. She said information from Santiago’s office is different from DHS.
“Part of the other issue is we are not in those conversations. We serve those families too. Nobody ever came to us and asked ‘How will this affect your families?’,” Nourse said.