Which Way, L.A.?
LA County Child Welfare Workers Sue over Caseloads
Social workers sue LA County over staffing at the Department of Children and Family Services. They’re often responsible for more children than their contract calls for.
By Warren Olney • • 28m ListenAfter years of finger-pointing over the abuse and death of children in public care, social workers have sued LA County over staffing ratios at the Department of Children and Family Services. They claim they're often responsible for twice as many endangered children as their contract calls for. We hear from a social worker who's quitting her job and from Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. Also, retired Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court Ron George talks about same-sex marriage and why legislators w don't provide more money for the justice system.
On our rebroadcast of today's To the Point, President Obama's Affordable Care Act is the biggest new government program since Medicare, but the disastrous roll-out is threatening his second term. Can he restore public confidence before he becomes a "lame duck?"
Banner Image: Angelica Cervantes (R) and her six-yera-old son Tomas Cervantes, sit in a motel room, Lucy Nicholson/Reuters
In this episode
2 storiesAre LA Social Workers 'Set Up for Failure?'
LA County's Department of Children and Family Services receives 160,000 child-abuse hotline calls every year. In February, a scathing report commissioned by the Board of Supervisors blamed bureaucrats and social workers for leaving children in unsafe homes.
Read the story19 minFormer California Chief Justice Ronald George
As a young lawyer, Ronald George defended capital punishment before the US Supreme Court. As a superior court judge, he spent two years conducting the trial of Hillside Strangler Angelo Buono.
Read the story10 min
