WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From Westchester County Department of Communications (SEVERELY EDITED) April 26, 2006: County Executive Andy Spano announced a sweeping overhaul of the County Department of Social Services tonight, Assigning First Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Social Services Nancy Travers responsibilities exclusively to child welfare management. Executive Spano promised three new DSS directors will be hired to report to Ms. Travers to beef up DSS child welfare surveillance, and announced 30 additional child welfare workers would be hired to lighten caseloads in a system that saw children on DSS watch perish as a result of alleged DSS failure to evaluate the family living environments.
Spano described a series of new Westchester County Police initiatives to sharpen officers' skills at identifying drivers under the influence of drugs; the additon of a new police helicopter and a mounted unit, and expansion of the County Police/White Plains Police program that conducts scrutiny of convicted sex offenders residing in the county. Additional security measures for children and women were announced at Mr. Spano's 2006 State of the County Speech at the Michaelian Building in White Plains.
The Department of Social Services reorganization was the most striking announcement, adding more caseworkers, putting more hands-on management at the three district offices and establishing an effort to make case workers better investigators of child abuse, and increasing bilingual staff.
The Department of Social Services Spano Sweep:
- A reorganization of the Department of Social Services. From now on, the First Deputy Commissioner Nancy Travers sole responsibility will be child welfare. Reporting to her will be three new directors, each overseeing a different district office. Reporting to each director will be additional managers and caseworkers. This is in addition to 30 new staff positions to reduce case loads.
- An “overflow” unit, to keep caseloads for current workers at optimal levels. This is in addition to the on-going workload study to determine how best to parcel out cases based on their degree of difficulty.
- Hiring more bi-lingual workers to help the Hispanic community receive assistance from employees who understand their culture and speak their language.
- A training pilot project with the Department of Public Safety will begin this summer to better train child welfare staff in investigative skills. Officers will continue to play an advisory role after training is done.
- The implementation of the new Child Fatality Review Team and Multi-disciplinary teams in cooperation with the District Attorney’s Office.
“When I came into office nine years ago, there were things we had to fix. When I began my second term, there were things we had to complete,’’ said Spano. “And now, as I begin my third term, there are things we have to build upon as we look to the future. What kind of county do we want Westchester to be—for our children, and their children?”
Detente with the New District Attorney
He praised the county’s recently elected District Attorney Janet DiFiore, saying that a new era of cooperation with the District Attorney’s Office has already resulted in a surge of joint initiatives to protect the public.
Spano stressed that government “must serve all residents equally no matter where they were born, no matter what their income, no matter what their age.”
“Westchester County must continue to be a place where all people are treated fairly and given a chance to succeed,’’ said Spano. “We must never forget that tolerance, decency and respect are the hallmarks of what all Americans stand for.”
He added, “Let’s not forget for a moment that all our ancestors were immigrants. “They all came here in search for a better life or for religious or political freedom. Let us not stifle this opportunity for others.’’
The County Executive said he would concentrate health efforts on the rise of obesity in children and closing the health care gap that exists for minorities.
Calling on the State to Step Up
While vowing to continue to push these initiatives and others, Spano said that more must be done on the state and federal levels to deal with these larger social issues. He challenged the State Legislature to pass a comprehensive Civil Commitment law for sex offenders and the Governor to make sure they serve their full prison terms. Spano also urged federal legislators to change the formula for Homeland Security funding so that more money goes to higher-risk communities like Westchester.
In his role as president of the County Executives of America, he asked his colleagues around the country to support federal legislation that would double funding for autism, a condition that affects 1 in 166 children in the country.
Recognizes Police and Probation Performance
The County Executive recognized county employees for significant advances in law enforcement matters and senior citizen aid, including:
· The county’s Parkway Patrol for stopping more impaired drivers, saying DWI arrests in 2005 were up 34 percent from 2004, on top of a 33 percent increase the year before. He added that driving while drugged arrests increased an astounding 81 percent. He recognized Captain John Hodges, Sergeant Brian Hess and Police Officer Robert Kelly.
· The Department of Probation’s 14-member DWI enforcement team for winning the 2005 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Public Service Award. The award was for its success in keeping those on DWI probation from repeating offenses. The team, which oversees 1,300 cases, uses a variety of innovative techniques including Operation Night Watch, in which surprise visits to probationers are conducted to make sure they are sober and off the road. Recognized were probation officers Frank Garcia, Helene Hodapp, Juan Sierra, Terrence Gorman, Sheryl Day, Robert Grady, Oneida Garcia and Charles Cotton, Supervising Probation Officers Robert Watson and Edward Drenga and Assistant Commissioner James O’Shea.
· Parry Aftab, the renowned Internet safety expert. Atfab will conduct the county’s upcoming Internet Safety seminar for parents May 9th and conducted last year’s successful cyberbullying conference.
· Staff of the Emergency Communications Center for their work helping residents cope with January’s storm and week-long power outages. In the 24 hour period dispatchers handled four times the average amount of calls and dispatched 711 calls to fire agencies and 128 to EMS agencies. Acknowledged were William Arduino, Raymond Stretz, Alison Travis, William Odell and Division Chief Mike Volk.
· Department of Senior Programs and Services SWAT team (Staff Working All the Time) for their efforts to help the 127,000 Westchester seniors faced with making choices under the federal government’s new Medicare Part D program for prescription drug coverage. He thanked Laura Bolotsky, Jeanne Pici, Mary Edgar-Herrera, Dozene Guishard and Colette Phipps and volunteers Flo Brodley and Tim Oberg and Lois Steinberg from the Medicare Rights Center.
Spano said that our strength lies in our diversity and that we must work together to realize the dream of a better community.
"We must continue to do all that we can to enhance the safeguards we have put in place -- so that our residents are protected, our businesses flourigh, and those who need our help the most, find it with tolerance and understanding," he said. "Some of us may be richer, some pooerer. Some may speak with accents, others with frailty. But we are all the family of Westchester."
