By Matt Sepic, KWMU
St. Louis – State Social Services workers in St. Louis say they want better pay and smaller caseloads.
The employees oversee foster care, adoptions and child abuse cases among other things.
Faye Foreman keeps track of 30 families for the Children's Division. She says that involves dealing with a lot of emergencies, in addition to regular monthly visits.
"My concern is that the families and the children are not getting the services that they deserve," Foreman said. "And that's very frustrating for us. It's very frustrating for the families. There's absolutely no resources, and we're asked to do a lot with nothing."
But Department of Social Services spokesman Jason Hogue says Missouri's caseloads fall within national guidelines.
"St. Louis is right at the national accreditation standard for caseloads, so I'm not sure where that concern comes from," Hogue said. "That's something that's going to have to be discussed with us."
Many of the St. Louis workers are unionized. But state law prevents them from striking.