Welfare Unit’s Problems Cleaned Up by Officials

Ventura County social service officials have cleaned up a barrage of problems in the county’s welfare fraud unit, according to a county report.

County Chief Administrative Officer Richard Wittenberg, who prepared a report for the Board of Supervisors, said social service officials have made “significant progress in improving the effectiveness” of the 14-person unit.

Last year, the grand jury concluded that workers in the unit were poorly trained and suffered from low productivity. The jury also found that some investigators were allowed so much freedom that they were dubbed “the Breakfast Club” because they would regularly meet for long meals during the workday.

Jurors suggested that the supervisors move the fraud unit to the district attorney’s office. But the board members voted 4 to 1 in November to give county Social Service Agency Director James E. Isom six months to clean up the problems.

Isom moved to strengthen the unit’s management and implement more training programs for employees. Officials are also closely monitoring how the investigators spend their time. Wittenberg said that he is recommending that the supervisors vote Tuesday to keep the unit under Isom’s direction.