[S]tate employees called for a boost in security and safety measures for frontline workers during a rally Tuesday near the Statehouse in Montpelier.
Worker safety tops the Vermont State Employees’ Association agenda for the 2016 legislative session.
The issue has been the subject of review by the administration, legislative hearings and news headlines since social worker Lara Sobel was shot while walking to her car one evening in early August.
Threats against the Department for Children and Families have been particularly well-documented. As of Tuesday, there had been 109 threats against the department, 101 of which targeted social workers, reported to the commissioner since Aug. 7.
Last week, a Colchester man was arrested for making threats against DCF.
But VSEA members say safety issues are prominent in other parts of state government as well.
Beverly Ordway, a mental health specialist at the Vermont Psychiatric Care Facility in Berlin, told the crowd that patients assaulting staff is common.
According to Ordway, in the first ten months of 2015, there were 160 assaults on staff by patients at the facility. One worker was threatened by a patient with scissors at the psychiatric care facility in Middlesex, she said during the rally, attended by several dozen in front of the Vermont Supreme Court building.
“It is the nature of our work sometimes, but we believe everything can be done, must be done to reduce the incidents,” Orderly said.
Ordway called for full staffing of mental health facilities as one step toward improving worker safety.
DCF social worker Kara Haynes acknowledged Gov. Peter Shumlin’s recent proposal to hire an additional 35 family services employees, but said the state needs to do more. She called for 60 additional social workers, and said that she believes every DCF office needs trained law enforcement on site.
“If we can’t protect the children we’re supposed to be protecting, what’s the point of state government?” Haynes said.
William Capasso, a family case manager with the judiciary based in Middlebury, raised concerns about courthouse security in Vermont, citing a report by the National Center for State Courts that found “significant shortfalls” in Vermont court security.
“We’re the ones that make the judiciary run, we want respect, we want to feel safe when we come to work,” Capasso said.
Aimee Towne, a benefits program specialist with the economic services division of DCF, and VSEA first vice president, said that worker safety has been a concern for quite a while.
“It feels that our voices are starting to be heard a little,” Towne said.
In her work, she said, it’s not uncommon for clients to be stressed, raise their voice or maybe use profanity. There have been some direct threats, and, she said, it seems that incidents have multiplied.
VSEA President Dave Bellini and others delivered a letter to Secretary of Administration Justin Johnson outlining the union’s priorities for the next legislative session. A second copy of the letter was delivered to Court Administrator Patricia Gabel.
During a short conversation with Johnson, Bellini raised some suggestions for improving workplace security.
“I wasn’t trying to zing you with this, but could we please get some walk-through metal detectors for our probation officers and some of the other buildings?” Bellini said.
Johnson would not go into details about the measures the administration has taken or is considering proposing to the Legislature, citing security. They are weighing a number of options, he said.
“The reality is, we’re not going to be able to address everything, we’re not going to be able to make everything 100% secure all the time, it’s just not going to happen,” Johnson said.
In the 2016 legislative session, the union will also push for an increase in revenues to fully fund the state budget, and for lawmakers to address inadequate staffing levels.
