[I]n the wake of the killing of a Vermont social worker, some state employees in Barre could be swapping office space.
The state is weighing five options for moving employees of the Department for Children and Families’ family services division from their current office space in City Place.
Where they would go, however, remains up in the air and scenarios involve the relocation of other state workers, including some at the Agency of Natural Resources.
After caseworker Lara Sobel was shot and killed in August while walking to her car from the DCF offices in downtown Barre, employees of the family services division wanted move to a new office space.
“We definitely want to be respectful of our staff in Barre who obviously have undergone a tragic event,” DCF Commissioner Ken Schatz said.
There are six vacancies in the DCF family services Barre office, Schatz said last week. Some of those positions opened up when workers resigned after Sobel’s death, though Schatz said he does not know why those individuals left their jobs.
While Sobel’s coworkers continue to work in the same office space, DCF has decided to transfer two of the open positions to St. Johnsbury and two to Morrisville. The new hires will work out of those offices for about a year, and then they will be transferred back to Barre, Schatz said.
In the meantime, the administration is scouting new locations for the DCF workers — but the impacts the move will have on other state agencies have yet to be determined.
DCF is “very interested, which is totally understandable, in doing anything they can to make things more secure and make things more safe,” Secretary of Administration Justin Johnson said last week of the Barre office move.
Johnson will make the final decisions about which of five proposals the state will proceed with, according to Deputy Secretary of Administration Michael Clasen, who is overseeing the move.
Clasen estimated that the move would affect about 30 people.
He said that the heads of agencies that may be affected by the move have been informed. He said that the administration has been in touch with the Vermont State Employees’ Association, the state employees’ union, about the potential move.
Before making a decision, the administration will weigh how any move might impact the ability of a department to complete its work, Clausen said.
“The work that [the Agency of Natural Resources] folks do is very different than the work that DCF does,” he said.
Doug Gibson, communications director of the VSEA, said that the union supports the DCF workers in Barre in the move, but he emphasized that the association wants to ensure that any move is done in a “logical and smart way.”
Gibson said that the union was previously only aware of one of the five proposals to move DCF workers — the one that would involve a switch with ANR employees.
In general, Gibson said, when it comes to coordinating movement of employees, the union would like to be a part of the conversation. Workers should be able to offer suggestions on how to avoid potential workspace issues, or how to save on costs, he said.
“All too often it feels like to the workers and to the union that the moves just happen and what the workers feel is secondary,” Gibson said.
The options
Clasen expects that the state will make a decision within the next couple of weeks.
The five proposals to relocate workers in the family services division range up to approximately $60,000 in one-time costs. Depending on how long it takes to fill office space left vacant by the move, the cost could amount to as much as $191,000.
Four of the options would involve moving the family services division to the building that houses the Washington County family and criminal courts in Barre.
One option would move DCF’s family services division and office of child support to space currently used by the Agency of Natural Resources in McFarland House, a state-owned office building a half-mile from City Place.
The move would unite the division with other branches of the Agency of Human services, including DCF’s regional economic services office.
In a memo dated Sept. 28, staff of the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) said that they are “deeply concerned for the well-being of DCF personnel and sympathetic to their need to restart in a new location.”
However, the memo went on to say that the space at City Place is “ill-suited to accommodate the operational needs” of the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Relocation would “severely cripple” the department’s ability to complete its work, the memo continues.
DFW staff pointed out that the McFarland building has been customized to meet the needs of the department, including a “wet lab” space where state biologists test animal body parts and carcasses for signs of disease.
If ANR offices were moved to City Place, the state would need to seek additional space in a warehouse at a cost of $18,000 per year to house the lab. The warehouse is located on a flood plain.
Secretary of Natural Resources Deb Markowitz said Thursday that employees of her agency are willing to support DCF workers who have been impacted by Sobel’s death.
“Change is hard,” she acknowledged, adding that the ANR space in McFarland is customized for the departments. But Markowitz said that employees of the agency are willing to cooperate.
“If you can meet our programmatic needs, we’ll be good soldiers and do what’s necessary for the team,” Markowitz said.
Lisa Menard, commissioner of the Department of Corrections, said she was informed that the move of DCF employees could potentially affect DOC workers.
One option would involve moving the DCF family services division into space currently occupied by the DOC in the Barre court building.
“We appreciate the concerns raised by staff and the administration’s efforts to ensure the security of state employees,” Menard said. “Should DOC staff be asked to move all concerns raised by DOC staff in the Barre District office will be considered.“
The other proposals include:
• Moving the Community High School of Vermont offices to the McFarland House and the State’s Attorney’s Office to City Place. DCF’s family services division and office of child support would move to the court building.
• Moving the Community High School of Vermont to the McFarland House. Family services would move to the court building. The child support office would stay in its current location in City Place.
• Family services would move to the court building, and the office of child support would stay at City Place. The Community High School of Vermont would move to McFarland House, and their current office would be occupied by the State’s Attorney’s Office.
