Counseling Proposed for County Workers

Ventura County officials want to expand a program to help employees deal with feelings of loss and anger in the face of up to 400 layoffs by county government.

On Tuesday, Personnel Director Ronald Komers will ask county supervisors to beef up the county’s counseling services, a move that will cost $20,000 to $30,000.

So far, he said, 100 county employees have been notified or targeted for layoff. Another 204 Fire Department employees have been told they could lose their jobs.

Komers said the number of employees seeking counseling from staff psychologists and social workers has increased from 270 to 925 in the last year.

“If we don’t help people deal with the issues, oftentimes the consequences are deflected into other areas: physical complications, marital complications. We feel it is important to help them,” he said.