Page 12 - Work Force March 2025

Two years after assault, CSEA advocacy spurs positive change
ALBANY — Two years ago, a brutal assault on a secure care treatment aide at Capital District Psychiatric Center catalyzed a safety campaign that has resulted in positive change.
CSEA Capital
District Psychiatric
Center Local
President Curtis
Boddie views
that campaign, as
reported in the
July-August 2023
Work Force, as
a turning point
that has resulted
in more dialogue, transparency and awareness of safety issues at the facility and at the state Office of Mental Health (OMH).
“I’ve been here 23 years and it’s a blessing to see that things are being talked about,” said Boddie. “The mindset is shifting. It’s like a curtain being drawn back.”
CSEA’s Statewide OMH Labor- Management Committee, chaired by Buffalo Psychiatric Center Local President Lovette Mootry, has advocated for capital projects and
improvements to enhance safety
and working conditions for CSEA members employed at OMH facilities across the state. Since our union’s campaign:
• OMH hired an agency safety and health director to better coordinate safety efforts throughout the agency; something CSEA pushed for.
• A new secure unit was added and staffing was expanded.
A CSEA Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Department analysis found that at Capital District Psychiatric Center, the most dangerous position based on rates of injury and assault was among CSEA- represented bargaining unit members in the secure care treatment aide position.
• The new unit, the most secure in the facility, expanded space, giving patients more room and allowing more private spaces. These changes left blind spots that require additional staff to monitor patients.
• Four units were re-designed
and newly constructed within the existing space, adding more safety features like cameras and limiting use of glass and concrete materials.
• A procedural patient transport issue that brought up workplace violence concerns was corrected.
• CSEA’s OMH Labor- Management Committee
has been active in reporting concerns and pushing for resolutions; and are finding management to be more responsive and collaborative in addressing issues raised.
CSEA officers and CSEA OSH Department staff have been invited to safety walk-throughs and were able to identify safety items that were corrected before members were assigned to work in those locations.
Knowing that many incidents happen during transitions, Boddie and CSEA Occupational Safety and Health Specialist Brian Pomeroy were able to pick up on locations needing reinforced padding, doors instead of glass windows and in one location,
were able to identify metal trim pieces that were sharp and could cause cuts in the event of a fall.
“We wanted it re-surfaced if someone fell or was pushed during an assault,” said Boddie.
Our union was key to even more safety enhancements.
“In a treatment room, we wanted a phone added for an emergency and also removal of glass from a window,” said Boddie. “Now, that room can
be closed off safely because it is a wooden door.”
For Boddie, the push from CSEA and a willingness from state OMH officials to engage in dialogue on workplace safety has translated to a cultural shift.
“Where we are now from where we were three years ago is better,” said Boddie. “Management is more forward thinking, the mindset
is shifting and there are more conversations taking place. Having those conversations is so important; you have to talk about this stuff.”
— Therese Assalian
groped,” said Currie.
To fix the issue, Currie
recommends that more services be offered to individuals, including offering additional counseling or
a behavioral specialist to help individuals prone to the sexual assault that she suffered.
“Medication doesn’t solve everything,” said Currie. “Right now, there is nothing being done to change his behaviors.”
She is also thankful for her CSEA family.
“Thank God I work with a great team because if I didn’t, my work life will be far more difficult,”
said Currie. “We have learned to divert individuals when we see our colleagues experiencing poor behavior.”
— Wendi Bowie
BRENTWOOD — CSEA Pilgrim Psychiatric Center Local member Laura Currie was walking down a hallway at work when she was inappropriately touched by
an individual
she assists at a state-operated community residence for individuals with mental illness.
The individual who assaulted Currie is a known sexual offender who was transferred to the home where Currie works after assaulting an individual at his former home.
Sadly, these instances are very common, particularly when the individuals have a history of violence
and our union members work directly with them. At times, workers at state Office of Mental Health facilities note that they feel as though their worksites are more of a pseudo jail than a place where individuals with mental illness go for help.
Currie noted that the home she works at is in an area known for gang activity.
“It feels like certain individuals are being placed in these [psychiatric] homes because there is no place else to put them,” said Currie.
As they say, idle hands is the devil’s workshop, and Currie has seen that old adage play out at the OMH homes. When they have less to do, some individuals may engage in drug activity or violence near the homes.
Currie described a cycle of
individuals entering the OMH home, refusing to take medication, the police taking individuals to the hospital to enforce the medication be taken, the individual is returned to the home, “and the cycle repeats.”
“These homes are supposed to be 90-day housing and we have individuals who have been here for 10 years,” said Currie. “If individuals are refusing to be helped, what
are they doing here? That person
is taking a bed from someone that might want to become self-sufficient and utilize our services.”
Currie advises members experiencing trauma at their
jobs to contact their CSEA union representatives to find out what resources are available to help them deal with the situation.
“We don’t come to work to be
Boddie
‘We don’t come to work to be groped’
12 The Work Force
March 2025
Currie