DSS workers face daily on-the-job dangers

from page 7 of the May 2006 Edition of the CSEA WorkForce

WHITE PLAINS – Jack McPhillips raises his eyebrows when asked about the dangers encountered by caseworkers with the Westchester County Department of Social Services.
          “How much time do you have?” said McPhillips, president of both the Westchester County Local 860 and the Westchester County Unit 9200. The men and women charged with protecting the children in one of the most populous counties in the state have a big job as it is, with many forced to make the decision daily to remove children from a potentially dangerous home. What McPhillips said the workers don’t need is the added stress of worrying about their own safety as they carry out their jobs.
“These caseworkers go out alone everyday, not knowing what kind of a situation they are going into,” said McPhillips.

          Members of the Westchester County Unit’s Executive Board are quite familiar with the inner workings of DSS. McPhillips started his career with the County working several years in that department. Noel de la Cruz, the unit’s Second Vice President, works as an eligibility examiner in DSS. Improving safety on the street for DSS Caseworkers and within the DSS offices, particularly the branch in White Plains, has been a top priority for McPhillips’ administration.

          Caseworkers who make home visits are unarmed. Those equipped with cell phones pay for the phones themselves, McPhillips said. No other pager or personal alarm device is provided. When a Caseworker knows he or she is going into a hostile home situation, the County provides a security worker to accompany them, but this is not the case with every visit.   “There is no personal protection equipment provided to a DSS worker,” said McPhillips. “They’re out there with their wits and their guile.”

          CSEA is out to make changes, for workers on the street and in DSS branch offices. For starters, McPhillips and his fellow officers support CSEA’s “Secure Worksites Now” campaign. In, DSS, they’d also like to see workers provided with cellular phones and workers sent to home visits in pairs, rather than alone as they are now.
          In the office environment, changes are needed too. De la Cruz pointed out that while the majority of offices have a Plexiglas barrier to provide a buffer between office staff and customers, the White Plains office does not.  
          “That’s not good enough,” he said. “They need that extra protection. Even in the Yonkers office, where they do have the Plexiglas, they still have customers spitting at the glass. The Section 8 office in White Plains got a barrier put in when they expressed safety concerns, so we don’t understand why DSS hasn’t gotten it.”
          McPhillips said unit officers will continue to push for safety improvements. The unit has an active Safety and Health Committee that has successfully won safety improvements by reporting violations to PESH. Meetings with county officials led to the County ordering a safety assessment of DSS, but those results have yet to be provided to CSEA.
                                                                                      -- Jessica Stone