UPE met with the department regarding proposed changes in duties for GA HSS. The department is still insisting on HSS staff taking on the work of the now vacant GA HSQR. We proposed a differential for all staff who would be asked to do the out-of-class duties, which the department declined. They agreed to meet with us again after we requested additional information about sanction imposition, training modules & workflows related to sanctions. Once we review and meet again, we

Your 008 negotiation team met with the department again regarding the work number being a mandatory addition to the eligibility process. Your team came up with a list of non-mandatory duties the department has been requiring due to first contact resolution. We have proposed extending intake slots multiple times, and the department continues to deny this. After presenting a reduction in duties, management said they did not have the authority to make decisions. They committed t

UPE met and conferred again on October 1, 2026, with representatives from DHA regarding changes to the handling of WTW sanctions. Under the state mandate, all sanctions must be cured on intake (if there has been a 30-day break in aid), during recertification, and now during continuing contacts where clients express a desire to cure the sanction and an intent to participate in WTW activities. The state promised a change to CAL-SAWs that would automatically cure the sanctions a

Greetings, Union Family, On October 7, 2026, your 008 governing board met with DHA management to discuss changes to Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA) eligibility. The state extended RCA eligibility from 4 months to 8 months. The automation for sending NOA’s has not been completed in CalSAWS, so staff are having to send out manual NOA’s. We asked that the department create a general functioning guide showing staff how to create a NOA for any program, and to hyperlink that guide w

Greetings Union Family, On September 30, 2026, your 008 governing board met with DHA management for the second time to discuss the volume of Medi-Cal/CalFresh intakes and a streamlined process for rescheduling intakes when requested by a worker. We spent hours explaining to management that workers do not have enough time to complete intakes. If the department is not going to extend intake slot times, then they need to allow and respect worker discretion for rescheduling when

Greetings, Union Brothers and Sisters, On September 28, 2026, your 005 governing board met with management over at the County Probation Office. We discussed the implementation of E-Court, which has become a contentious issue impacting our court employees, those at the district attorney's office, and many more workers, including those at probation. Management shared that they have not yet prepared processes and procedures governing the use of E-Court, but once such is done, th

On September 29, 2026, UPE met with Sacramento County over the creation of a new policy relating to background checks for employees with access to Federal Tax Information (FTI). IRS rules require that all employees with direct or indirect access to protected FTI must undergo a background check every five years to identify any arrests or convictions that may impact an employee's 'suitability' for access to FTI. This requirement applies to all classifications, including supervi

UPE met and conferred on September 21, 2026, with representatives from DHA regarding changes to the handling of WTW sanctions. First, all sanctions must be cured on intake (if there has been a 30-day break in aid), during recertification, and now during continuing contacts where clients express a desire to cure the sanction and an intent to participate in WTW activities. These changes are state-mandated. The state promised a change to CAL-SAWs that would automatically cure

Greetings UPE Family! On September 14, 2026, your UPE negotiations team met with the Department of Child, Family and Adult Services (DCFAS) and the Office of Labor Relations about the update made to the above-referenced policy. There are two (2) updates to this policy: the first being an update to form CS106 and the second being an update to the name of Publication 86 listed in the Related Documents section of this policy. The form CS106 (Special Skills Service Request) was

Greetings UPE Family! On September 14, 2026, your UPE negotiations team met with the Department of Child, Family and Adult Services (DCFAS) and the Office of Labor Relations about the update made to the above-referenced policy. There was a complete overhaul of this P&P since the last one was in 2001. In the policy, it was not clear whether a referral has already been made to the PHN by ER and whether there is a PHN assigned; if the referral is promoted to IS, does there

Your negotiation team met with the department to address the changes in how help desk tickets can now result in a breach of confidentiality. This change causes the potential for discipline among our members. Management explained that there was a review of confidentiality breaches countywide. In doing so, the department identified a practice in help desk ticket submissions that were considered breaches when submitted to the wrong D Tech department. UPE feels that the communica

UPE learned today that DHA has already implemented changes related to SB 119. This implementation is a violation of California Labor Law, and UPE has demanded that the Department cease and desist from its implementation until UPE and DHA can meet. If the Department fails to cease and desist then UPE will file an Unfair Labor Practice Charge against the Department for its violation of California Labor Law. The two sides are already scheduled to meet on this issue on Septemb

Your negotiation team met with the department to address the department-wide increase in intake appointments. The department denies that this is a change, claiming that seven to eight appointments per day is normal and not new. UPE strongly disagrees. We explained the challenges of meeting this schedule while also completing additional required duties. We continue to stress the need for more time for each intake, citing the length of the Rights and Responsibilities recording

Your 008 negotiations team met with the department regarding the mandatory requirement to utilize the Work Number at intake, SAR & renewal/recertification. The department shared an ACL (All County Letter) from CDSS (California Department of Social Services) that is making the use of the Work Number mandatory for all eligibility staff due to HR1 implementation. UPE understands that the County has no option but to impose this mandate; however, with an already unmanageable workl

Your 008 negotiations team met with the department for the final time regarding their proposal to add more work to HSS staff in ICT & TOA units. UPE proposed a 5% differential for any HSS expected to perform out-of-class duties. Currently, Program Specialists are resolving the state-compiled list of duplicate persons' duties to an HSS. Because the department refuses to compensate our members for doing work outside of their classification, we declared impasse and are proceedin

On August 21, 2026, your 008 governing board met with DHA management to discuss their proposal to backfill the current HSQRS vacancy in General Assistance (GA) at Susie Gains with another HSS. Though the program is in dire need of more HSS to help offset the volume of intakes, the department is proposing the delegation of the HSQRS tasks to all of the HSS in GA. This would mean that HSS would be applying and removing sanctions and reviewing and processing monthly reports. The

Greetings, UPE Family! On August 20, 2026, your UPE bargaining team met with Labor Relations and the Department of Health Services, Public Health Division regarding the revision of the Employee Safety Policy. After the meeting, UPE determined that the revision of the policy had little to no impact on the membership. There were small grammatical and formatting issues that need to be addressed prior to publishing and implementation. UPE requested to receive a copy of the final

Greetings, Union Brothers and Sisters, On August 13, 2026, your 008 board met with DHA management to follow up on the implementation of ABAWD. Clients are now receiving letters saying that their CalFresh is ending, and workers have not received the info needed to provide clients with how to meet their work requirements and/or receive exemptions. Additionally, training was not conducted in the manner we were told it would, leaving workers unprepared. We made several proposal

Greetings UPE Family! On August 5, 2026, your UPE bargaining team met with Labor Relations and Employment Services regarding the Child Development Specialist Class Study. Previously, the CDS I and II classes were separate and had a one (1) year probationary period; they are now tied together as CDS I/II, as all other classifications that have a level I and II are, and the probationary period is now six (6) months. This creates a clearer pathway for CDS I’s to promote to C

Your 008-negotiation team met with the department regarding their proposal to yet again add more duties to our HSS members. Since the implementation of Cal Saws, eligibility cases have been plagued with the creation of duplicate persons. Sometimes this can cause complications under limited circumstances. Since the discovery of this issue, the department has had a program specialist resolving these cases. In what is becoming a predictable pattern, the department decides to red