Orangewood Safety Update: Sept. 7, 2023

Dear OCEA member,

We have several updates regarding ongoing safety improvements at Orangewood Children and Family Center. First, we would again like to commend all of you who organized around this deeply important issue. Over 120 OCEA members signed the petition demanding safety at OCFC! Make no mistake, all improvements detailed below are a direct result of those efforts and a prime example of what we can accomplish when standing together.

Key Safety Updates Include:

• Reconvening the High-Risk Youth Needs Meeting
• After the structure and purpose of this meeting was clarified to OCFC management, they elected to create a similar meeting with the following partner Agencies: Orange County Sherriff’s Department, District Attorney, Probation, and Juvenile Courts. This meeting follows an MDT model and is held on a weekly basis. Specific client issues/incidents are discussed with the goal of collectively addressing needs and providing resources. We have requested HCA also be included in these meetings.
• Of note: The specific safety concerns related to STRTP eligible youth being co-located with non-STRTP eligible youth is also being addressed during these meetings. Management advised it will be impossible to separate the two groups at Orangewood, but noted additional options are being explored.
• A separate meeting will be held between OCEA staff and OCFC Management to discuss progress on all OCFC safety-related concerns. These meetings will continue monthly (previously bi-monthly) until the issues have been satisfactorily mitigated. Please complete the survey at the end of this email to provide current feedback.
  
  
• Increased Staffing
• The SSA Director approved 50 extra help positions for OCFC! The current contract is for 1040 hours within a 6-month period; needs will be reassessed upon completion. A hiring event was held Aug. 23, 2023, and 24 job offers were extended. Another hiring event is scheduled for mid-September. The County hopes to fill the remaining extra help positions from that event. The County will hold another hiring event in October for existing Group Counselor vacancies (estimated to be around 11 positions, per HR).

• Upgraded Radios
• 35 new Motorola radios have been ordered. OCFC Management is exploring additional options to improve coverage (eliminate dead zones on campus).
  
  
• Repaired Panic Buttons
• The original panic buttons are unfixable; however, emergency buttons have been added to most phones on campus. Per OCFC management, only the gym and preschool cottage are pending these updates. Please let your supervisor know if you have not yet been instructed on how to utilize these buttons.
  
  
• Increased Security
• Deputies have temporarily been assigned to OCFC. We have asked for clarification regarding roles/responsibilities and duration of assignment. This information is still pending.
• SSOs should be escorting staff to their cars when requested. Please contact AMI Elena Valle if that is not your experience.
• OCEA provided consent for additional camera installation in the parking lot. The current barrier appears to be CCL who, per OCFC management, is not outwardly opposed but has also not yet approved. Management has indicated they hope to add additional cameras to the parking lot, door entering reception, and perimeter of campus.
• Construction on the vestibule was scheduled to start on 9/5/23. This remodel includes safety improvements for Intake.
• OCFC management is looking into additional options for security improvements within the parking structure.
  
  
• Improved Training
• Non-OCFC staff providing overtime assistance are being trained in Pro-Act. This is an existing licensing requirement which is being reinforced.
• Select supervisors are being trained in Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) strategies. The plan is for those same supervisors to offer this training to OCFC staff, internally.
• Management is looking into whether OCFC staff can attend existing training offered through HCA or HCA can provide additional training to OCFC staff.
• Probation may also have some applicable training opportunities that can be made available to OCFC staff.

Please let us know if you have any questions related to these updates, additional concerns you would like addressed, and/or creative solutions for continued improvements in this area. We would also appreciate if you took a minute to complete the following brief survey regarding safety improvements at OCFC.

As a reminder, your SSA Labor Relations Team is: OCEA Labor Relations Representative Charles Leon (cleon@ocea.org); OCEA Operations Manager Veronica Rodarte (vrodarte@ocea.org); OCEA Labor Relations Representative Kerensa Schupmann (kschupmann@ocea.org); OCEA Labor Relations Specialist Louis Gurrola (lgurrola@ocea.org); and OCEA Labor Relations Representative Danielle Chau (dchau@ocea.org). For information on getting more involved, please contact OCEA Senior Organizer Alisha Greene (agreene@ocea.org).

Thank you for all your feedback and work to help improve safety at Orangewood!

In Solidarity,

OCEA

Publication Date: September 7, 2023