CFS Update: Jan. 10, 2023

Dear OCEA CFS member,

Last year was a year filled with achievements, challenges and changes. OCEA members at SSA experienced a change in leadership with the retirement of Director Debra Baetz, which created a ripple effect of promotions and transitions that will likely continue into this new year. Additionally, in November, Orange County voted for a new Board of Supervisors with the election of Santa Ana Mayor Vincente Sarmiento in District 2 and the re-elections of Supervisors Doug Chaffee in District 4 and Katrina Foley in District 5. These victories established the first clear labor-friendly Board majority in the history of OCEA!

We experienced internal changeover with the retirement of longtime OCEA President Lezlee Neebe and selection of OCEA's next President, Judy Bowling. We also said farewell to SSA Labor Relations Representatives Saliem Aregaye and Kate Wolf and brought on Louis Gurrola and Kerensa Schupmann, former OCEA stewards from SSA, in their place.

Your SSA Labor Relations Representatives now include Danielle Chau, Charles “Chaz” Leon, Louis “Louie” Gurrola and Kerensa Schupmann. Danielle has worked at OCEA for five years and has been assigned to SSA for the past two. Chaz has also been assigned to SSA for two years. Before that he fought alongside social workers as a Labor Relations Representative in San Diego County. Louie has five years of County clerical experience, including supervisory experience, and Kerensa has 10 years of County experience—six as a Senior Social Worker and four as a Senior Social Services Supervisor (SSSS) within CFS.

Last year we faced head on long-standing issues within CFS related to culture, staffing, resources and workloads. While the fight is ongoing, we engaged in many notable efforts on behalf of workers and achieved several positive outcomes.

OCEA successfully:

• Initiated an ongoing SSA campaign.
• Conducted surveys to identify specific workplace issues and solicit potential solutions.
• Presented County leadership with a comprehensive demand letter for transformative change.
• Secured some of our core demands, including but not limited to:
• Improved technology.
• Expansion of County-offered counseling services for social workers.

• Creation of a workgroup comprised of leadership, social workers and clerical staff to review distribution of paperwork duties.

• Piloting of a new PM shift design in Emergency Response (ER) to reduce the number of mandated PM shifts per month.

• Improved recruitment efforts to reduce vacancies.

• Introduced a new organizing approach by bringing CFS Steward Kerensa Schupmann to work at OCEA for three months on a special program to initiate and implement change throughout the Agency.
• Addressed the Board of Supervisors during their public meetings to highlight your concerns, amplify your voices and initiate immediate action.
• Signed a side letter agreement to secure grant money offered to ER, aimed at retention.

The CFS Caseload Management Forum was restructured to accurately reflect the language of our MOU. We increased the duration of each meeting to 90 minutes, providing us enough time to effectively discuss program-specific caseload concerns. Meetings were held pertaining to Emergency Response (ER), Court Services and Special Medical Investigations/Continuing Services. The five permitted OCEA member-participants changed based on the program of focus. We would like to recognize and thank the following members for their impressive courage and invaluable contributions: Martin Garcia, Debra Martin, Yajaira “Heidi” Perez, Cassandra Lewis, Kristen Nichols, Nancy Genovese, Manuella Yushuvayeva, Breeze Jeffries, Joshua Ashrafi, Jose Garcia Lujano, Amanda Pickett, Melissa Adame, Maricruz Jimenez, and Alyssa Vadenberg.

While many meaningful discussions transpired and several reasonable ideas and solutions were proposed, progress has been needlessly slow and frustrating at best. We had some wins in ER but Court Programs continue to be a struggle largely due to management’s consistent refusal to discuss caseload targets. A direct quote from management was, “I know them, but I am not going to share them.” 

We plan to continue with the Caseload Management Forum in the new year while simultaneously exploring all available options to ensure the MOU is followed—including grievance options if necessary. The program of focus for January will be the Court Training Program. We will then start progressing through the back-end programs. Your voices are most impactful in these meetings, so please consider participating.

Going into 2023, we will also pivot our focus toward negotiations. This year—as we negotiate a new MOU—is the time to take the ideas you have and where appropriate incorporate them into our bargaining proposal. Keep an eye out for a bargaining survey from OCEA, coming soon. If you want to get involved with this campaign, or have ideas for our proposal, please contact Kerensa Schupmann at KSchupmann@ocea.org or (714) 835-3257.

Thank you for all your hard work! Even with COVID surges, staffing challenges, and resignations, you provided much needed services to those in Orange County who need them the most. Despite increasing workloads, many of you advocated for yourselves and your peers. Stay strong and keep fighting! We're standing with you.

In Solidarity,

OCEA

Publication Date: January 10, 2023