Before “petri dish” COVID-19 working conditions sparked office protests, County of Orange social workers have long been overworked while understaffed – likely disrupting their ability to aid families in crisis and protect abused children.
Emergency staff who are a person’s first encounter with the Social Services Agency feel burnt out and overwhelmed – shouldering large caseloads due to understaffing, being sent alone at night to unstable home situations, and stressed by long hours at the agency’s “toxic” workplace.
That’s all according to a set of grievances against Social Services Agency management, voiced on behalf of workers last month by the Orange County Employees Association (OCEA), a union representing roughly 18,000 of the region’s public sector employees.
The problem impacts social workers at the agency’s Children and Family Services Division, according to a Dec. 15 letter from OCEA General Manager Charles Barfield. The division works to protect children from abuse and neglect and assists at-risk families. The letter says the more pressing issues are within the division’s emergency response program.