Violence triggers social services wake-up call

Thursday, Dec. 12, 2002 | 11:20 a.m.

Ora Thornton, 57, has made four visits this year to the Clark County Social Services office in Henderson, where two workers were stabbed Tuesday. Because she has a car, family members have relied on her to bring them to the office when they needed help paying their gas, electricity and rent bills.

She has sat with them and waited. She has helped them chase down paperwork and waited some more, watching the frustration build.

"I sit there and observe what's going on (in the office) and think, 'This isn't right,' " Thornton said.

Her family members have been treated "like we're lower than a cockroach," she said.

Tuesday's violence, which police say happened when a man allegedly became enraged over his challenges with the system, has observers of the department -- charged with helping tens of thousands in the Las Vegas Valley who are down on their luck -- wondering if a wake-up call hasn't been sounded.

While they deplore the violence that left workers traumatized and the office closed, they say that overburdened workers, strapped clients and a lackluster economy are creating a pressure cooker at social services offices.

"Nobody deserves to be hurt," said Linda Lera-Randle El, director of the outreach group Straight from the Streets, who was named to a new citizen's advisory committee for the Department of Social Services.

"But the potential for violence definitely exists with people that are at the end of their rope asking for assistance and the people at the front lines for the agency telling them that they can't be helped."

Verlia Davis-Hoggard, director of social services, said that her agency is struggling under a caseload that has ballooned in the past year. Two dozen workers at four offices around the valley have seen 73,106 people as of Oct. 31 of this year, an increase of 17 percent from the same period last year, she said.

The agency's budget for fiscal year 2002, which began July 1, is $37 million, up from $33 million last year -- an increase of only 12 percent.

"Our office is working very hard to meet the needs of the poor people of Nevada," Davis-Hoggard said. "But people keep coming, with the economy and the layoffs.

"We can't do anything for people without more people."

The agency's administrator said that she would not change the way it does business and called the lack of staff "our biggest problem."

Still, those who have walked clients through the steps to obtain the agency's help and others who have studied the agency say that changes could be made to benefit workers and clients alike.

Part of the problem, said William Epstein, professor of social services at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and an author of six books and 30 articles on the subject, is the way poor people are treated when they walk through the doors of social services offices.

"Poor people are handled as though they're morally deficient ... instead of with compassion," Epstein said. "In a country and state this wealthy, this is a terrible thing."

This attitude toward the poor seems particularly intense in Las Vegas, Epstein said.

"This is the spirit of Las Vegas, a hustler's paradise -- there's a 'house edge' when it comes to the poor, if you will," he said.

Lera-Randle El has led hundreds of the poor to social services offices throughout the valley.

She has waited outside the agency's main office on Pinto Lane at 4 a.m. in order to ensure that people needing rental assistance were seen the same day.

On one occasion she had to return to an office on three consecutive days in order to get permission to assist a woman whom a psychologist from the state Division of Mental Health had declared mentally unfit to fend for herself.

She finally was able to obtain rental and medical assistance for the woman. "But she would be homeless to this day if she had gone in that office on her own," Lera-Randle El said.

"And these are not isolated incidents."

The agency could cut down on the amount of paperwork needed to help such people, increase communication between state, county and city agencies and rotate workers through different jobs so that they don't burn out as easily when dealing directly with people in need, Lera-Randle El said.

"Some of the clients simply can't navigate the system," she said.

As for the workers, she said that their stress levels are often as high as those of the people seeking help.

"Workers need more rewards, time to recoup and smaller work days -- social services work is extremely stressful," she said.

Epstein agreed. "Being a social worker is so disparaged in our society and it's the same in health, education and other areas," he said.

At the same time, he said, problems such as long lines, giving appointments to all who need help and monitoring how much help is available are responsibilities that lie with the agency's administration. The agency will have new leadership starting Jan. 13, when Darryl Martin, currently an official in Albany, N.Y., will replace Davis-Hoggard.

The citizen's advisory committee, which includes academics, chamber of commerce officials, advocates and clients, will also meet for the first time next year.

Lera Randle-El hopes changes mean improvements in the agency.

"I'm sorry that it had to happen this way," she said. "But I'm glad these issues are coming out."

One initial issue facing the county is security at its offices. County spokesman Erik Pappa said security will be evaluated at all 30 Clark County government offices in a series of meetings starting this afternoon.

"Whenever anything like this happens, there's an opportunity to review how we conduct business," Pappa said.

"We're going to evaluate everything and determine whether our security measures are adequate, and if not, what changes need to be made," he said.

The spokesman said that changes could range from technology to training.

"Do we need more metal detectors, do we arm our guards, do we need more training for our staff, are the offices creating a safe environment?" he said.