Monroe County officials, faced with a budget shortfall that
may exceed $19 million, have vowed not to compromise health and public safety
as they reduce the county workforce.

But to the
dismay of county Child Protective Service employees, their work to help
children suffering abuse and neglect doesn't fit the administration's
definition of "health and public safety." As a result, CPS workers say, the
health and safety of those children is being compromised --- with potentially
tragic results.

CPS
investigators typically respond to referrals from concerned neighbors, doctors,
teachers, and judges. The investigators are charged with determining whether
there's cause to take state action, such as removing a child from a home.

Armed with
little more than a degree in social work and the wisdom of experience, they
often enter households where hostility, filth, drugs, and despair have created
a dangerous situation.

"It floors
me that we're not thought of as public safety," says "Rita," a CPS worker who
spoke on condition of anonymity. (County workers generally must get permission
from the administration to speak to the press, and Rita says she believes that
permission would not be granted in her case.) Past and future cuts have caused
"a very big fear among staff that we can't keep children safe," Rita says.

According
to John Vasko, president of the Monroe County Federation of Social Workers,
CPS's investigative division is understaffed, overworked, and will soon be
under-qualified to effectively investigate allegations of abuse.

Vasko says
a job vacancy rate of 10 to 15 percent is standard in the division, owing to
high stress and, subsequently, high turnover among those charged with
investigating complaints of child abuse. As a result of the county's hiring freeze,
Vasko says, the vacancy rate has jumped to between 20 and 25 percent.
Investigators now number in the 30s. Last May, referrals for their services
topped 600 --- a record high.

The strong
possibility of layoffs and the loss of experienced workers who opt to take
advantage of the new early-retirement plan threaten to cause "a long period of
turmoil" in the department, Vasko says.

Until
recently, a team of Department of Social Service Workers outside the
investigative division reviewed the progress reports generated by CPS and
foster-care workers to correct errors or omissions before the paperwork was
sent to the state. But to save money, the county has been moving staff
performing non-mandated tasks to jobs covering mandated services. And the nine
reviewers were involuntarily transferred to work as CPS investigators in
mid-July.

Vasko
objects to the transfers for several reasons. Eliminating the review process
will likely cost the county money, he says, because the "independent reviewers"
caught errors that would have resulted in financial sanctions from the state.

He's also
concerned that the transferred workers --- some of whom have never worked in
CPS before --- won't be trained well enough to investigate cases.

The state requires
new investigators to complete a three-month "core training" before they hit the
streets, says Vasko. But, he says, the county intends to shorten the training
period for workers with some CPS experience (such as preventive or
administrative experience), even if they've never done investigative work. In
one case, he says, a worker who hasn't investigated cases for 20 years will
receive only a week of training.

In
addition, Vasko has filed a grievance with the Department of Social Services
over the way the transfers were assigned. According to the Federation's
contract, Vasko says, the department must first canvas for volunteers to fill
vacancies in CPS, then assign transfers according to "reverse seniority" ---
transferring those with the least experience first. The dispute is headed for
arbitration, but may not be settled until early next year.

The
transfers have Rita worried about "the impact of people who
don't want to work here being forced to work here." Within CPS, "people
transfer out as quickly as they can, which means we get the newest workers all
the time," she says. "Managers have to be in training mode all the time."

Time
pressures caused by the decrease in staff and the increase in the workload
force investigators to make hard decisions about which cases to concentrate on.
Given those pressures, "in cases where you might make extra follow-up visits,
you don't; that's a luxury," Rita says. "In cases where you might spend more
time working with the family, you don't. That's also a luxury."

Those
decisions cause their own anxiety. "We're triaging," Rita says. "And we're not
perfect. With a number of variables out there, you never know if you picked the
right one."

Rita says
Department of Social Services director Richard Schauseil and deputy director
Diane Larter "have been diligent in trying to address" the problems, "but their
hands are being tied."

Calls
seeking permission to speak with Schauseil and Larter were not returned.

Asked
if he considered the work of CPS part of the county's
health or public safety services, Republican Majority Leader Bill Smith of
Pittsford says, "I think I would not say so."

"Public
safety is something that is relevant to all citizens of the county," says
Smith. "It's similar with public health, which is among the reasons things like
that get priority treatment when budget concerns become a problem."

As budget
negotiations progress, Smith says, "we're going to be hearing about a lot of
things the county does that are worthy" of funding, "but narrowly targeted
constituencies are going to be affected by lower revenues the county's getting
now. We're not happy this happens, but this is how it works."

County
administration spokesman James Smith also did not return calls seeking comment.