Greetings, Union Family, Your 005 and 008 governing boards met with DHA to discuss the new service center they are opening on Power Inn Road, on the first floor of the DCSS building. They are anticipating anywhere from 100 to 125 people to move (including eligibility staff, clerical, supervisors, an ASO, and a program manager). Our main concerns were to ensure current staff will be given the opportunity to put in for transfer, that their ADA accommodations be moved with them,

On October 28, 2026, your UPE bargaining team met again with the Department of Child, Family and Adult Services (DCFAS) regarding management's proposal to increase the minimum in-office requirement from two to three days per week. UPE presented employee survey results highlighting opposition to the proposed reduction and concerns about work-life balance. Despite substantial disagreement, UPE maintained its position, requested additional information, and secured another opport

Greetings, Union Family, Your 008 governing board met with DHA for the new LIMS system updates and a demo of what it will look like upon rollout in February. LIMS functionality is now integrated with CalSAWS, eliminating the need for staff to switch between multiple screens. For example, when clerical schedules an appointment, LIMS will automate a journal entry and transfer it to CalSAWS on its own. On the eligibility side, the workers receiving pop-ups for appointments will

Your 008-negotiation team met with the department regarding their proposal to implement a universal absence reporting procedure. Management stated this procedure is to provide earlier notification to the ACD analyst of absences for appointment scheduling. UPE had many concerns with the proposed procedure. As an example, the department wants everyone, regardless of their starting time, to call in by 7:15. So if a member’s shift starts at 9 a.m., they will have to call 1 hour a

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