PORTLAND, Ore. - More state requirements and fewer people to carry them out. That's how child welfare workers summarize what's happening in Oregon, and they're in Salem today to make their case to lawmakers.

For two years, they have been under a hiring freeze like many state agencies, with two caseworkers doing the work of three. Add a challenging new software system, and mandates to remedy racial inequalities in the foster care system and find more relatives to place children with – and Barbara Casey, an in-home caseworker at the Alberta Child Welfare office in north Portland, said they have their hands full.

"All of that, they're all good mandates, all good goals: preserving families, reunifying families, strengthening them," she said. "It's just compounded to get to it, when you just don't have enough people there."

Almost 1,300 case workers respond to more than 75,000 reports of child abuse and neglect in Oregon, and they supervise about 13,000 children in foster care. Gov. John Kitzhaber's proposed budget for Child Welfare services would bring the agency to 80 percent of its staffing needs, up from a current level of 67 percent.

One area affected by the staffing cuts is the amount of time at-risk parents can spend with their children, Casey said. The visits have to be supervised, she explained, and there aren't enough workers - called social service assistants - to meet the needs. Child welfare workers play an important role for Oregon families, she added, and many resent being called "bureaucrats" during budget debates.

"We're not pushing papers - we are intervening at a very difficult time in people's lives," she said. "To me, it's a sacred trust. I have children and I have moms and dads that I want to reunite and keep at home."

The governor's budget includes money for a new approach to dealing with suspected child abuse cases that focuses on early intervention for families and keeping children out of foster care. The number of suspected child abuse cases in Oregon has risen for a decade, which could mean that more people are coming forward to report abuse and neglect.




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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A new report found a U.S. Senate bill would expand eligibility for unemployment benefits to nearly 600,000 Ohio workers.

The Unemployment Insurance Improvement Act, co-sponsored by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, would lower the threshold for how much workers must be paid in order to qualify for benefits if they lose their job.

Michael Shields, researcher for Policy Matters Ohio, explained Ohio has one of the strictest earnings tests among states: To qualify, a worker must be paid at least $280 a week and work at least 20 weeks of the year.

"A lot of folks end up getting left out of coverage, and that actually does include a lot of people who are very highly attached to the workforce," Shields outlined. "The typical person who would be newly covered by this measure worked 37 weeks in 2019 and worked a median of 26 weeks per year."

To qualify for unemployment under the bill, workers would need to be paid at least $1,500 in a year and $1,000 in at least one quarter, compared with a minimum in Ohio of $5,600 in a year.

The bill's sponsors are pushing for it to be included as an amendment in the Build Back Better social spending package currently being debated.

The measure would extend coverage to four in five Ohio workers currently not eligible for unemployment insurance.

Shields noted it would also make coverage more equitable in Ohio by reducing current disparities.

"For instance, women have to work on average two and a half more hours than men in order to qualify for benefits," Shields observed. "And Black Ohio workers have to work four hours more than their white counterparts in order to be covered by unemployment benefits if they were to be laid off."

The report also found it would expand unemployment qualifications for those in some of the industries hit hardest by the pandemic, including accommodations and food services. Currently, about 44% of those workers are excluded from benefits, compared with 15% of workers overall.

Reporting by Ohio News Connection in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.

LANSING, Mich. - Post offices across Michigan and the nation are implementing service changes in an effort by the agency to cut costs, but labor leaders say the move could have major repercussions for workers and customers alike.

Since October 1, service standards have been altered to slow the pace of delivery for some first-class mail, while cutting retail hours and increasing prices.

Roscoe Woods - president of the 480-481 Area Local American Postal Workers Union in Michigan - said this is the wrong approach. He said the U.S. Postal Service is designed as a public service, not a business.

"We have this massive infrastructure with the capability of meeting our commitments, and then some," said Woods. "And this Postmaster General has taken the position that we should continue to increase the cost to our customers while reducing service, and I think it's one of the worst ideas ever."

Woods said the plan was made without input from union members and many of those workers who have been with the agency for decades.

Michigan is one of 20 states that recently filed an administrative complaint, asking for a more detailed review.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has said the Postal Service is hiring 40,000 seasonal workers to help with the holiday rush, and that the changes are needed to trim a $160 billion loss by 2030.

Chris Shaw is a historian of the USPS and published author. He said these changes already are affecting small-business owners who often depend on first-class mail.

He said some may turn to other delivery providers, which could lead to further privatization of the mailing industry.

"These changes are part of a trend where the Postal Service is conceived of not as a government agency, a public service that exists to serve everyone on a universal basis and in a uniform manner,"said Shaw. "And instead, conceiving it more like a for-profit business."

He added there are other ways to cut losses - for instance, venturing into areas such as banking. He said a pilot program has launched at four post offices to do some payroll and business check cashing, and hopes these kinds of financial services could be expanded.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- More changes went into effect this month at the U.S. Postal Service, and some New York postal workers worry about how the policies will impact the avalanche of mail this holiday season.

The Postal Service's new service standards, which went into effect on Oct. 1, include moving away from air mail delivery for first-class mail.

It is expected mail traveling less than 1,000 miles will reach its destination in three days, and mail traveling more than 1,900 miles will take about five days. The Postal Service said these efforts are meant to cut costs.

John Tabak, president of the American Postal Workers Union Local 390 in Albany, said the changes are regrettable.

"Standards for the Post Office should not be slowed," Tabak argued. "The future of the Post Office isn't more automation. It's not in going back to trucks. It's not in going back to sorting mail by hand. It's in innovation, and there is a possibility here to innovate its way out, but it takes some money, and right now the Post Office doesn't have it."

These latest changes are part of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's 10-year plan for the service, called "Delivering for America," which aims to avoid $160 billion in losses by 2030 and includes modernizing the vehicle fleet, as well as investments in processing facilities.

Other new changes to the Postal Service include cuts to office hours.

Chuck Zlatkin, legislative and political director of the New York Metro Area Postal Union, said it remains to be seen what impact the changes will have on the busy holiday months ahead. He is concerned the changes will privatize the Postal Service.

"People should understand that postal workers are fully aware of the job that they do, the importance of it to the public, and that they feel terrible about these delays in service," Zlatkin observed. "It's not the postal workers' fault. They're on your side."

DeJoy said last month the Postal Service is hiring 40,000 seasonal workers.

Zlatkin contended it is critical for Congress to pass the Postal Service Reform Act, which would eliminate the pre-funding of future retiree health benefits and add new measures to better hold Postal Service leadership accountable.