Frustration follows meetings on child welfare concerns

Twenty-two injury claims have been filed so far this year by Clark County Family Services employees, a group now raising concerns about safety on the job.

Four cases involved interactions with a client, according to county statistics. The only client-involved case detailed publicly so far concerns Family Services employee Heather Richardson, who in May was hospitalized after being hit in the face with a brick while transporting a child to the county’s emergency shelter for abused and neglected children.

“All worker injuries are unfortunate, but the number of injuries in DFS (Family Services) is not high, given the size of the department,” said Clark County spokesman Erik Pappa, who gathered the statistics. Family Services has about 900 employees. “In fact, they’re about in the middle of all departments for injuries on a per-capita basis.”

In 2013, there were 28 injury claims, three involving interaction with a client. In 2012, there were 31 injury claims, one involving interaction with a client.

But concerns about worker safety spurred Family Services employees and their union to petition Clark County commissioners on Aug. 5.

The 390 employees who signed the petition seek development and implementation of safety policies to better protect children, families and employees. The “Safety First” petition also asked that caseload sizes be reviewed and that the agency make it a priority to provide assistance to children and employees who need it.

Since then, Family Services employees have met with county commissioners, and Family Services Director Lisa Ruiz-Lee has met with her employees. But both sides are expressing frustrations with the outcome of those meetings.

Clark County officials say leaders of the Service Employees International Union have failed to provide a list of concerns and proposed solutions to Clark County Manager Don Burnette.

Instead, Ruiz-Lee met with employees at all sites over two weeks to address issues raised in the petition, officials said.

However, SEIU officials who met with county commissioners Susan Brager and Chris Giunchigliani on Aug. 11 say they were disappointed that no Family Services managers or representatives of Burnette’s office participated.

“Ruiz-Lee subsequently chose not to meet with union leaders about our concerns, telling us that she considered our actions a personal attack against her,” SEIU Nevada President Martin Bassick said. “This was never personal — it’s always been about making (Family Services) safer and better.”

Ruiz-Lee on Monday declined requests for an interview about her relationship with employees, but a county public information officer offered to deliver written questions to her.

She is carefully considering the issues workers raised in the petition, according to Pappa.

She has “made it a priority to meet with staff, with her management team behind her, to answer questions from employees and seek their input,” Pappa said in written responses to Review-Journal questions. “She asked to partner with employees to address any issues of concern and explained how the department is moving forward.”

Because Ruiz-Lee was in the audience when the petition was presented to county commissioners, SEIU leaders said they had hoped she would hold such meetings with employees to discuss their concerns, Bassick said.

“Meetings weren’t scheduled until several weeks later, after the Review-Journal began asking questions about the department and her leadership of it,” Bassick said in a statement. “When she finally held meetings, she dismissed factual information and our petition, saying derisively she didn’t need a petition to know DFS caseload numbers were high.”

Many employees who attended the meetings said there was nothing positive about them, he added.

“Some employees cried during the meetings, while others left them near tears because of their frustration and the lack of respect they were shown,” Bassick said.

Some employees also have been questioned by managers about their participation in preparing, circulating and signing the petition, he said.

“Many employees now fear retaliation at work because, instead of moving forward and supporting employees through a plan of action, (Ruiz-Lee) is disputing whether employees have valid concerns.”

WORK ‘ISN’T ALWAYS SAFE’

Injuries reported by Family Services workers range from slips and falls to lifting something heavy, Pappa said.

Working in child welfare isn’t always safe, said Linda Spears, vice president of policy and public affairs for the Washington, D.C.-based Child Welfare League of America.

“It’s not unlikely for workers to have things thrown at them and for kids to assault a worker,” she said.

Social workers in college learn how to handle those situations, she said. New hires learn about those situations during job orientations too, but that’s an ongoing need.

“You really don’t understand it until you are doing the work,” she said. “Especially if you don’t have a social worker’s background.”

During the meetings Ruiz-Lee had with employees, there was a discussion about training on how to defuse potentially dangerous situations without engaging people in a physical or violent manner, Pappa said.

Employees are trained in workplace safety that focuses on the interaction between staff and clients and with the general public, he said. But he didn’t say whether training was one-time only or ongoing.

Family Services workers can also call law enforcement if they feel threatened or in need of support.

The area’s largest local law enforcement agency, the Metropolitan Police Department, does not track the number of those calls.

“Workers have to feel confident, they have to feel like they have the skills to be on top of that,” Spears said of de-escalating situations. “I think agencies can do more, at least many.”

STRIDES TOWARD IMPROVEMENT

The nonprofit Children’s Advocacy Alliance — which lobbies for the safety, health and education needs of Southern Nevada children — is conducting a Stakeholder Opinion Survey because it has found that foster parents, biological parents and caseworkers are hesitant to speak out about problems, said Denise Tanata Ashby, executive director for the alliance.

The anonymous survey, which has just been made available to child welfare workers, foster parents and others, is meant to improve the state’s child welfare systems.

So far the organization has received 10 responses, all related to Clark County Family Services.

Family Services later this month will request County Commission approval for an interlocal agreement with Mojave Mental Health to help provide safety services, Pappa said.

Ruiz-Lee also is committed to using security guards at all seven Family Services sites as part of a broader effort to expand security.

“DFS does a very good job under very difficult circumstances,” he said. “We strive to have the best possible practices and policies in place, but there is always room for improvement.”

County officials also said they’ve addressed the caseload issue raised by employees by adding more positions — 49 last year and 47 this year. Ruiz-Lee also is creating a licensing investigative unit to look into allegations made against a home or a facility that has already been licensed, Pappa said.

“If there are other issues of worker safety, then we would like to know what they are so that we can address them.” he said.