The Child Welfare Services Stakeholders Group:
Union Members Make a Difference

September 2002

When the Stakeholders Group was first set up, many social workers were skeptical. They saw the process as an excuse for putting off implementation of the SB 2030 study recommendations requiring adequate staffing of child welfare departments. Out of over 60 members, only one spot was reserved for a union member, Local 535 First Vice President Janet Atkins. SEIU Local 535 lobbied hard, demanding that more line workers be included in the process, and as a result the group was opened up. “Once they realized the experience we brought to the process, other participants would defer to us,” states Monterey social worker Alice Talavera, one of the 535 members who recently became a full member of the stakeholders group after participating as a work group member. “They recognize that we bring the perspective of the ones who do the actual work.”

Talavera recalls that during one of the first meetings she attended, her work group was discussing family conferencing and the use of court mediation. “These are great programs, but they had no idea how much more work would be created. They actually thought it would make work easier and allow more time to spend with clients. I had to explain to them that some of the meetings can last four to six hours.” She spent a lot of that meeting arguing with people. But her message got through. Another time she arrived late to a meeting. When she got there, the other participants were thankful she had arrived because they needed her to explain how the programs they were considering would actually work on the front lines.

“Our message is finally being heard, that we need to put social work back in child welfare,” Atkins states. She estimates that she puts about seven days of work per month into the stakeholders group, but feels the work is paying off. “It all boils down to the fact that caseloads need to be lowered so that social workers can do social work based on a relationship between a client and a social worker rather than paperwork. We had to do a lot of education.”

The group brought together experts in their fields, but workers are the only ones with the whole picture of how the system works at ground level. According to Atkins, the welfare directors group, CWDA, has been one of the union's allies in talking reality to many of the other participants, who had visions beyond what could possibly be implemented with limited resources.

Atkins is hopeful that after two years of struggling with the group, it has now transformed into something capable of taking on its enormous mission. She is looking forward to the next year, when the group is scheduled to publish its recommendation for redesign implementation. “Now things seem more concrete. We have facilitators who are very knowledgeable about child welfare and experts from all over the country,” she says. The big question remaining is how to implement reform at a time when the present limited resources are shrinking.