Social workers rallied outside the Santa Clara County administration offices, demanding accountability from leadership following the fentanyl death of baby Phoenix Castro and ongoing staffing shortages in the Department of Family and Children's Services. They claim a lack of staff and inadequate training puts children and families at risk.
Ed Morillo, left, is comforted by social worker Karlie Eacock, center, after a rally outside the Santa Clara County administration offices on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, in San Jose, Calif. Social workers with the Department of Family and Children’s Services rallied with their supporters to address issues of staffing and workloads in their department.
The county’s Department of Family and Children’s Services is so short staffed that 33% of social worker jobs that investigate child abuse and neglect are vacant, social workers said, and 50% of the jobs are vacant in the dependency court division where decisions are made whether to remove children from their parents.
But those reforms have come too fast without enough staff to properly implement them, social workers said Tuesday, or the right leadership to guide them. Since the Bay Area News Group first broke the story in October 2023, social workers have been demanding leadership changes, naming as culpable County Executive James Williams, Department of Social Services Director Daniel Little, who drafted the family-first policy, and Department of Family and Children’s Services Director Damion Wright.
SOCIAL WORKERS STAFFING SHORTAGES CHILD SAFETY ACCOUNTABILITY FENTANYL OVERDOSE
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