Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 08051997 - D4 R DA THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA DATE: August 5, 1997 MATTER OF RECORD SUBJECT: Public Comment Bruce Peaslee, President, Contra Costa Worker's Chapter of SEIU Local 535, 661 27th Street, Oakland, addressed the Board of Supervisors regarding the County's implementation of the new computer system in the Social Services Department. Mr. Peaslee also submitted a written statement to the Board members. Don Winter, 384 Tennent Avenue, Pinole, commented on his issues with the Pinole Police Department and the County District Attorney's Office. Mr. Winter submitted written materials to the Board members. THIS IS A MATTER FOR RECORD PURPOSES ONLY NO BOARD ACTION TAKEN Request to Speak Form ,�� ( THREE (3) MINUTE LIMIT) Complete this form and place It in the box near the speakers' nostrum before addressing the Board. Name: u cc fcots le e - phone: �0--3 oZ S_ Address: Clhr I am speaking for myself_or i • S6'/lZ 6'3 Om me of I SM11=0oN CHECK ONE: I wish to speak on Agenda Item #i Gate: Mycomments will be: general _for_aorw . 1 wish to speak on the subject Gws/cw,.3 1 do not wish to speak but leave these comments for the Board to consider. L• 0 C A L CONTRA COSTA WORKERS CHAPTER RECEMD AUG - 517 August 5, 1997 ,CLERK BOARD OF SUPERVISORS CONTRA COSTA CO. Statement to the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors SOCIAL SERVICES on the UNION Child Welfare Services/Case Management System (CWS/CMS) AMERICAN FEDERATION OF NURSES Good afternoon. My name is Bruce Peaslee and I am the President of the Contra Costa Workers Chapter of SEIU Local 535. 661 27TH STREET We are here today to bring your board up to date on the progress we have made in resolving OAKLAND some of the issues that have been raised around the County's implementation of the new CALIFORNIA computer system in children's protective services. As you know, CWS/CMS as it is called, has 94612 created a tremendous amount of concern among social workers throughout California. They worry that the time required to input case data into the system will be taken from the time that 510-893-8766 social workers should be in the field. They also worry that the essential job of social workers FAX510-893-0934will.be changed from case managers to data entry personnel, an idea that makes little sense either professionally or fiscally. We had initially felt that implementation of CWS/CMS in Contra Costa should be delayed until the early part of next year. However, the Social Service Department has legitimate reasons for going up now: referrals are relatively low at this time of year and a delay will erode some of the training in the new system that staff has already received. We are also convinced that eventual implementation is inevitable. The system will improve somewhat over the short term, certain programming errors will be corrected, but what we see in January or February will differ little in substantive ways from what is here now. Having reached this point we spent the past several days talking with our members to see if there were things that could be done to facilitate implementation. I am pleased to report that we have come up with some ideas and that these ideas have been accepted by the Social Service Department. Without going into great detail, most of the agreement centers around who is the best person to physically enter data into the system and how this might be done. We appreciate the efforts of the Social Service Department, not only in planning for the implementation, but in reaching agreement on these issues. We thank your board for any assistance that you might have=provided as well. Other offices in Sacramento,San Jose,Fresno,Los Angeles,Santa Barbara and Son Diego • Affiliated with Service Employees International Union AFL-(IO-(LC Having said all this, I must sound a cautionary note. CWS/CMS is not a great system. It is not even a good system. It appears to have been designed to satisfy the accountants and the fiscal types. Social workers do not readily see much of an advantage over their traditional way of working. No matter how well we plan or what agreements into which we may enter, there is no escaping the fact that this system takes up a lot of the social workers' time. If this causes problems or puts children at risk, we will be back. If you need to hire more social workers and we believe even the State has begun to realize that you will—we will return with such a request. In the meantime, however, we will continue to work with the County to do what we can to assist our members in completing their work. Thanks again for your attention in this matter. > Sauce A. easlee President 510/412-3028 C:VMY DOCUMENTS\LOCAL 535U30S CWS-CMS LDOC . Request to Speak Form ( THREE (3) MINUTE' LIMIT) Complete this form and place It In the box near the speakers' ostrum before addressing the Board. .Naive: 1 am speaking for myself a organization: (vane of Op d d wo DUCK ONE: 1 wish to speak on Agenda Item My comments will be: general :;-: 727—/ A 1 wish to speak on the subjectof 1 do not wish to speak but leave these comments for the Board to consider.