County responses unacceptable
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.
— James Marmon, Nice