Kurt Kessler
"It's the Election of 2006 that made what we accomplished in 2007 possible. Without a predominantly pro-labor legislature and governorship, the hard work we put into Lobby Days and our other lobbying programs would have produced slim results...." Kurt Kessler, Dept of Human Services, Medford CAPE Committee Member
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Human Services Still Fighting for Funding

One of our toughest fights this session was to improve the quality of care for abused and neglected kids in Oregon. Front-line workers at the Department of Human Services protect kids who are in danger. The state wanted to increase case workers so that each case worker would have a smaller case load.

However, DHS wanted to pay for this by eliminating more than a hundred assistants (SSAs). Case workers, assistants, and others who protect these children were up in arms for two reasons.

One, workload would go through the roof and two , each child would have less protection and attention.

SSAs and case workers across the state rallied to fight the cuts. They fought it in labor-management discussions and in the legislature. Workers testified in budget hearings. Child welfare workers from eastern Oregon made the trip over the mountains and made a persuasive case.

While we haven’t won this fight yet, we are working with legislators to get the funding in 2008.

 Barbara Casey  “We worked hard to win funding last session for SSAs and CETs, who serve a critical role for both child welfare staff and client families. We have continued the fight since session. Because we elected pro-worker legislators they’ve had open doors to workers so that we can explain why the management staffing proposal won’t work.”
Barbara Casey,
Department of Human Services, CAPE Chair