Welfare Rolls Rise, So All but 7 County Workers Stay on Payroll

An increase in Orange County welfare cases last month allowed the Social Services Agency to keep most of the 51 caseworkers it had planned to lay off, agency Director Larry Leaman said Friday.

Just seven of the 51 employees were fired, Leaman said, and one of those has found another job and others may get job offers from San Bernardino County.

Leaman said unexpected resignations and leaves of absence allowed 17 welfare eligibility technicians facing layoffs to stay on the job, and voluntary job sharing by their colleagues kept another three at their posts. The others took lesser-paying jobs elsewhere in the agency.

The 51 employees had been notified they were subject to termination as of July 16 because the programs administered by the caseworkers are largely funded by the state, which requires that technician positions be cut when cases drop below certain levels.

The caseloads had dropped earlier in the year, but Leaman said there was “some caseload growth in June,” allowing the 12 positions to be retained.

The agency could still suffer scores of layoffs when the county Board of Supervisors opens hearings July 29 on the tentatively adopted $1.7-billion budget. Other agencies face possible layoffs, too, as the supervisors try to balance a budget that includes increased spending to help the county solve its jail overcrowding problem.