Today social workers across Los Angeles County are striking on behalf
of children's safety.

They are courageously standing up for children in danger in their
communities, and asking the LA County Board of Supervisors and DCFS to
put in writing firm, binding commitments to decrease social workers'
shameful caseload numbers, which greatly exceed professional
standards.

They are inspiring the best in our whole community by standing up for
at-risk children and families in crisis and asking the County to agree
to a plan to improve staffing over the next two years.

Emergency services social worker Almira Garza describes her work:

I am called upon when a little boy or girl, terrified and
inconsolable, is a witness at a crime scene where he or she may have
lost a loved one. Maybe the child is brought to the ER covered in
blood and bruises. Or he or she is the subject of a 911 call from a
concerned neighbor who suspects the child is a victim of neglect or
sexual abuse."

"We need time to connect with these children, to earn their trust and
place them in a safe foster home, hopefully with a known relative. We
need to help the child and family access counseling or other vital
services. But most of us juggle between forty and fifty cases at a
time per month -- over three times beyond recommended safety
standards."

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