LA County to end psychological screening of DCFS trainees under $2.7 million settlement

Los Angeles County social worker trainees will no longer be subjected to preemployment psychological evaluations that over four decades have caused some applicants to lose internships and job offers based on assumptions about their mental health, according to a sweeping $2.7 million settlement.filed by two graduates of USC’s Masters of Social Work program who are both sexual assault victims experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder.

“We knew that what happened to us wasn’t right, and we brought this case to ensure that no other applicants ever had to go through what we did — and now, thankfully, they won’t,” Doe said in a statement. “As a result of this settlement, that will finally stop — and we hope that’s some small vindication not just for our own clients, but for everyone else who was affected by the county’s discriminatory evaluation.”The plaintiffs had planned to spend their careers serving the county’s most vulnerable children and families, including those who, like themselves, had experienced sexual abuse, assault and other significant trauma, Betouliere said.

“However, before either plaintiff could begin work, they were each required to undergo a mandatory psychological evaluation, during which the county asked them about previous mental health diagnoses, medications and treatment; their past experiences of sexual abuse; and other topics with no bearing on plaintiffs’ ability to perform their future jobs,” the suit says.

Additionally, the county refused to provide the plaintiffs with copies of their psychological assessments, information about the job duties they believed they could not perform or the risks they supposedly posed.

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