To the Editor:
Editor’s note: this letter was
edited for length:
The Mendocino County Health and
Human Services Agency’s response to the Grand Jury is one of the most twisted
documents I have ever read. So, I took a few minutes to sort things out and get
rid of some the wool they are trying to pull over everyone’s eyes.
Grand Jury Finding 2 (F2).
Family & Child Services ranks at the bottom for two of three State measures
of job performance for FCS agencies.
County answer (CA): “I (we) disagree
wholly with this finding. According to Safe Measures which refreshes at least
weekly, Family and Children’s Services does not rank at the bottom of timely
investigations of immediate and 10 day referrals.”
My answer (MA): Safe measures
is not the official database. The grand jury based their findings on data
collected from the Child Welfare Services California Management System
(CWS/CMS) database, which is the official database.
F3. One of the two measures
where FCS meets or exceeds State averages is Case Worker periodic visits for
children under their care. Unfortunately, this does not address the
understaffing concerns of the areas where FCS does not even meet State
averages.
CA: “I (we) disagree partially
with this finding. HHSA agrees that FCS meets or exceeds State averages in Case
Work periodic visits for children in their care. For more information regarding
staffing see response to F35.”
MA: This response doesn’t make
sense. F35 has to do with recruiting activities not staffing concerns.
F4. A failure to meet required
investigation deadlines is a symptom of understaffing. A failure to timely
investigate referrals poses an increased risk to children.
CA: “I (we) disagree partially
with this finding. Training is needed for staff on which critical documentation
to prioritize getting entered into the database immediately when the first
in-person contacts or attempted contacts have been made and then on-going
monitoring to ensure the social workers are entering the initial
attempts/contacts to adequately reflect real time performance on addressing
child safety. However, it is agreed that if referrals are not responded to
timely, there would be an increased risk to children.”
MA: This response avoids
addressing the first part of the finding “that a failure to meet required
investigation deadlines is a symptom of understaffing.” HHSA already admitted
in F1, that a major problem with FCS is understaffing.
F5. The statistical performance
of County FCS, when compared to that of the other counties in the State, is an
embarrassment to our community and should be an embarrassment to our County
government.
CA: “I (we) disagree wholly
with this finding. The statistical performance of Mendocino County in
comparison to other counties is higher in some areas and lower in some areas.
The County government nor the community should be embarrassed, we can be proud
of what we have accomplished in a small rural county.”
MA: The grand jury findings
were in relation to the statistical performance of Emergency Response only, in
which they found FCS at the bottom of 2 out of 3 measures. Yes they should be
embarrassed.
F7. A significant number of FCS
professional and supervisory staff do not meet State educational standards for
their positions and are considered under-qualified by State standards.
CA: “I (we) disagree wholly
with this finding. They are not under-qualified they meet current
specifications for job classifications.”
MA: This response contradicts
FCS’s admission that 8 out of 9 social worker supervisors do not have MSW
degrees or equivalent education and experience for their positions. It doesn’t
address the shortage of MSW’s in regards to professional line staff positions
either. The grand jury did not mention anything about classifications, they
spoke of positions only.
F8. The failure of FCS in
Mendocino County to conduct timely investigations is directly linked to the
shortage of qualified staff.
CA: “I (we) disagree partially
with this finding. The documentation of timely investigations is primarily the
issue. Social workers and supervisors do realize and comply with the standard
that children must be seen and interviewed either immediately or within 10 days
or attempt made to see the children in those time frames. However, they do not
document their investigations as quickly as need due to the prioritization of
job responsibilities like seeing a child in the home.”
This response also avoids
answering the grand jury’s finding. HHSA already admitted in F1, that a major
problem with FCS is understaffing.
F9. The County’s use of
inexperienced and under-qualified staff to conduct Emergency Response
investigations places an additional burden on supervisors and increases the
probability of children or staff coming to harm.
CA: “I (we) disagree partially
with this finding. Ideally it would be better to have a Social Worker IV’s and
V’s who would also need some training, but much less than Social Worker I’s.
Social Worker I’s are trainee level social workers and the best practice is
that they would only be carrying a very small caseload. That being said, in
order ot protect children, it is better to have Social Worker I’s handling
investigations and working to protect children, than to leave the positions
vacant in hopes of acquiring social workers with a Master of Social Work (MSW)
degree to fill the positions, as this would definitely place children at risk
by not having anyone to investigate referrals.”
MA: Again, they avoid answering
the grand jury’s finding. They do not give a response to there being an
additional burden on supervisors by allowing Social Worker I’s to handle
Emergency Response investigations. They also fail to mention that Social Worker
I’s are not allowed to conduct investigations by state standards.
F15. Senior Management has
known of the lack of staff for years. Failure to actively recruit exacerbates
this problem. Recruiting is haphazard at best. Failure to address this problem
has led to the current state of affairs.
CA: “I (we) disagree wholly
with this finding. HHSA actively recruits for vacant positions in FCS vacant
positions in FCS. HHSA also works collaboratively with Mendocino Human
Resources regarding vacant positions.”
MA: HHSA completely ignores the
finding that Senior Management has known of the lack of staff for years. They
also fail to mention that there was a hiring freeze from 2008 to 2010.
Furthermore, Mendocino County Human Resources does not recruit or hire social
workers. Recruitment is done through Merit System Services and the hiring is
conducted by HHSA’s Human Resources Department.
F16. Current FCS professional
staff are carrying nearly double the recommended Best Practices case loads for
quality service to children
CA: “I (we) disagree partially
with this finding, For continuing services, using the best practice standard of
17 to 20 cases, as of June 2015 only three of the FCS social workers have more
than 20 cases, of those three, two have 21 cases and one has 25 cases. Caseload
numbers in September 2014 and January 2015 show only one social worker had more
than the best practice standard of 22 cases. However, we agree that most of the
FCS Emergency Response social workers have over the best practice standard.
This is due to a lack of staffing which results in referrals, although
investigated, not being able to close in time due to not being entered into the
Child Welfare Services/Case Management System database and thus remain open on
the social workers caseload. We don not agree, however, that social workers are
carrying nearly double the caseload.”
MA: If you take in account that
Social Worker I’s are not supposed to be carrying an Emergency Response
caseload at all, the other social workers are well over the best practice
standard. Also if you take notice, HHSA makes reference to Child Welfare
Services/Case Management System database in this response, but disputes it in
F2.
F37. Staff is reluctant to
speak out on issues for fear of retaliation.
CA: “I (we) disagree wholly
with this finding. HHSA does not have sufficient information from the Grand
Jury regarding this finding”
MA: They want names.
F38. Lack of respectful
communication was cited by more than one interviewee, and the Grand Jury was
presented documented evidence.
CA: “I (we) disagree wholly
with this finding. HHSA does not have sufficient information from the Grand
Jury to make further statements on this finding.”
MA: Again, they want names.
August 2, 2015
Ukiah
Daily Journal
Letter from James Marmon, Nice
No comments:
Post a Comment