A Harsh Reality

My fellow Custody Assistants, on June 23, PPOA received a call concerning 15 Custody Assistants assigned to CalAIM, a Medi-Cal funded program within the Community Transition Unit, which is also under the umbrella of the Population Management Bureau (PMB). On this fateful morning, our partners were notified of their assignment abruptly coming to an end and that they would be returning to their prior units of assignment as of July 1. However, this situation is not as cut and dry as “sending them back to the line.”

With the quick action of PPOA’s labor representatives and executives, information was gathered and notifications were made to the Board of Labor Relations and Compliance (BOLRAC) demanding a meet and confer pertaining to the attempted dismantling of CalAIM. Upon receiving a response agreeing to a meet and confer from BOLRAC, PPOA also demanded a cease and desist of all direct dealings between Department supervision and our concerned members. There is a process to be followed by Department supervisors, BOLRAC and union representatives when Department employees are involuntarily displaced from their units of assignment. And what had transpired up to this point completely sidestepped that process.

PPOA’s position and top priority is to ensure our impacted members are not strong-armed into an undesirable unit of assignment, but that they are provided a “soft landing” and given some say in their futures and how it will potentially impact their families and personal lives. It seemed like a no-brainer for the displaced Custody Assistants to be reallocated to vacancies throughout PMB, as they were made “permanent transfers” upon their acceptance of the position in CalAIM on January 7, 2024. But alas, nothing is that simple. On June 27, PPOA participated in the meet and confer with BOLRAC and Department leadership overseeing the dismantling of CalAIM. During this meeting, we were provided the details surrounding the CalAIM program: how it was funded, the duration of the contract and whether or not the 15 Custody Assistants were notified of the duration of the program.

Upon this information being brought to light, the path forward was clear. CalAIM was only a pilot program with guaranteed funding for 18 months, from January 7, 2024, to June 30, 2025. Although a number of conversations were had with our members, as a result of direct dealings, none of the potential opportunities within PMB presented to them is supported by Department approval. Therefore, due to the fact that Custody Assistants are being involuntarily displaced due to the expiration of a contract that was not addressed through the proper channels in a timely manner to prepare for next steps, a job fair is warranted. We were fortunate to have BOLRAC agree with our position to put a freeze on all movement of these impacted Custody Assistants until a job fair is held and new units of assignment are established. Points of agreement were drawn up that outline the protections in which these displaced Custody Assistants will be entitled to upon their transfer to new assignments.

Although this is not the outcome we strived for, this was a fair compromise. Many of the impacted Custody Assistants are angry with how this situation was handled, and rightly so. When you do the legwork, ask the right questions and get the proper information — all before making a career- and life-changing move — only to have it all completely backfire 18 months later, it makes all of us think: there are no guarantees, and any position is “permanent” until someone decides it’s not.