Severe Staffing Shortage At Sonoma County’s Child Protection Services Agency Endangering Kids, Workers Claim
Social workers say that they're not able to give full attention to their cases anymore and have to prioritize which children need to be helped first. County officials have acknowledged the problem, but also say they've taken steps to ensure vulnerable children are protected during this staffing crisis.
Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
Sonoma County Social Workers Decry Tight Staffing They Say Puts Children At Risk
Sonoma County’s Child Protection Services agency is grappling with a severe staff shortage that has social workers claiming children’s lives could be in danger. They have been going before the county supervisors in recent weeks to call out the agency’s unsafe practices and raise public awareness of the problems resulting from not having enough people to handle the workload. ...Officials said the county has had difficulty recruiting and retaining social workers for a number of reasons, including the area’s housing shortage and high cost of living. Last year’s wildfires have caused additional strain on social services and the community, leading to more cases of alleged domestic abuse, county supervisor Shirlee Zane said. (Espinoza, 10/17)
In other news from across the state —
Fresno Bee:
MS-13 Street Gang Brings Violence And Murder To Mendota CA
MS-13 carved out a reign of terror resulting in at least 14 brutal murders in and around Mendota from 2015 to 2017. There was little or no media coverage on some of the murders, some of which had been initially labeled as suspicious deaths. (Amaro, 10/17)