SEATTLE – Over 100 baby dolls, meant to represent children tragically underserved due to social worker turnover and poor worker retention in the state’s Children’s Administration, were found across the Seattle and western King County area Tuesday morning. The dolls were left unattended at bus stations, libraries, parks, storefronts, and walkways ahead of the day’s busy morning commute. Each doll wears a tag directing readers to tell Governor Inslee to do better for children via the social media hashtag #BabyJayden, and pointing them to http://wfse.org/babyjayden where they can find out more about what’s going on.

The demonstration was the project of nearly a dozen Local 843 members hailing from different offices of Children’s Administration. The agency is comprised of Child Protective Services and its new Family Assessment Response program, which responds to allegations of child abuse and neglect; Family Voluntary Services, which works with families following a CPS intake to increase safety and stability for children in the home; Child and Family Welfare Services, which works with families in the court system to resolve child safety concerns; Adoption Services, which finds permanent homes for children without legal parents; and the Division of Licensed Resources which licenses foster homes. CA workers across King County are overloaded as their offices face crisis-level turnover rates associated with high stress, dangerous field conditions, and inadequate compensation.

The action came on the day that Washington State human service workers throughout King County and public employees across the state will rally in “Unity Breaks” during their lunch hour to draw public attention to Collective Bargaining negotiations which are just beginning. Retention and turnover issues plague offices well beyond Children’s Administration. The hurt is particularly felt in King County, where high costs of living are in no way reflected in any kind of differential, geographically based compensation. A Developmental Disabilities Administration social worker in Bellevue or Seattle makes the same dollar amount as one based in Yakima or Wenatchee, even though the cost of living for the first may be nearly 30% more. Geographically based “locality pay” is one of many priorities members are asking for in their new contract.

Help us spread the word. Have you seen #BabyJayden either on the street or online? Share with us, with Governor Inslee, and with your friends under the hashtag and make sure you include a call to help make children, families, and communities safer by addressing retention in human services. We are found on Facebook at /wfselocal843, Instagram @wfselocal843, and Twitter @wfselocal843. Governor Jay Inslee is on Twitter @GovInslee and you can find your own local representatives to the Legislature here if you would like to include a message to them (we think you should)!