Social Workers Win Child Safety Agreement

Los Angeles — On Dec. 13, social workers announced the Children’s Social Worker Agreement with Los Angeles County Management.  

After striking for six days in the name of child safety, followed by two additional days of intensive bargaining, Los Angeles County Children’s Social Workers and County management reached an agreement, which adds new protections for children. 

What Social Workers Won:

More Social Workers: 450 more social workers by Oct. 1.This is the net increase. The County will hire behind all social who leave CountyService. The total number of social workers hired will exceed 600, or 50 per month during the first year of the agreement.

Lower Social Worker-to-Child Ratios: The county agreed to jointly establish lower social workers caseload benchmarks based on the hiring plan.

Training and Education: The county agreed to educate workers for policy violations. This will help end the climate of fear.

Less Paperwork, More Social Work: The county will decrease policies by 25 percent in the 6 months that follow with a streamlined, web-based policy manual.

Letting Social Workers Do Their Jobs: The County agreed to give social workers more flexibility in how they do their jobs through a “mobile worker program.”