Colleen Honch

As a Human Services Manager, Senior in Special Medical (SM) I directly supervise 9 Senior Social Services Supervisor's (SSSS), 1 Social Worker II, and 45 Senior Social Workers. I also serve as a liaison for HCA Public Health Nurses assigned to SM housed within the department. SM has Intake SSWs who complete the initial Detention Hearing Reports for children brought into the Juvenile Dependency system; Dependency Investigations; Continuing Units that service Family Reunification and Family Maintenance Cases; Family Preservation Services; and Medical Intake Coordinator. SM Intake and Investigations Senior Social Workers (SSW) are responsible for investigating child abuse cases and presenting child abuse allegations to the County of Orange Juvenile Court. Continuing and Family Preservation Services workers work with families to provide services and interventions to address child safety issues within the family unit. SM's Medical Intake SSW works with Orange County's medical community, HCA PHNs and children's caretakers to ensure that the complex medical needs of children in our program are met and that placements of medical children are in compliance with CDSS regulations. I ensure that all employees in SM are properly trained and equipped to investigate child abuse allegations, assess the safety of children under their supervision, and ensure that the medical needs of our most vulnerable children are met. I am responsible for planning, developing and implementing policies and procedures for ensuring compliance with federal and state performance mandates for SM employees. I worked this position concurrently with the Human Servies Manager, Senior position for Court Servies from August 2024 through July 2025. Responsibilities for the Human Services Manager, Senior Court Services position is listed below.

As a Human Services Manager, Senior in Court Services (CS) I directly supervised 1 Secretary 1 (Sec 1); 9 Senior Social Services Supervisor's (SSSS), 2 Social Service Supervisors (SSS1), 11 Social Worker IIs (SWII), 1 Information Processing Technician (IPT), and 46 Senior Social Workers (SSWs). CS is comprised of diverse and court specific functions that the supervision of children brought to the attention of Orange County Juvenile Court. Positions managed include Dependency Investigator units comprised of seven SSSSs and forty-six SSWs; a Special Investigations Unit (SIU) comprised of a SSSS and four SSWs; a Conditional Release and Intensive Supervision (CRISP) unit comprised of a SSSS and five SSWs; and Indian Child Welfare Unit (ICWA) comprised of a SSSI and six SWIIs; and an Absent Search Unit comprised of a SSSI, five SWII's, and one IPT. Dependency Investigator SSWs complete the initial investigation to the Child Abuse Petition that was filed by CFS leading to detention orders for the family. The Dependency Investigator authors Jurisdictional/Dispositional reports to address pre-trial and trail hearings as well as addendum reports or warrants as necessary. The Dependency investigator is responsible to manage and supervise the safety of the child under the orders of Orange County Juvenile Court and work with families to increase child safety within their home and/or work with the family to create a safe environment for the child to return to the home. The CRISP unit provides support to the Dependency Investigators when intensive supervision is required to return a child home to a parent. CRISP completes a minimum of weekly home visits to a family to support successful reunification efforts. The Absent Parent Unit provides support to all of CFS in conducting .26 level searches for parents who are absent or otherwise missing so that they may be noticed of legal events such as child removals, dependency, and legal guardianship, and adoptions. The ICWA unit completes all noticing of Native American Indian Tribes of the possibility that a ICWA eIigible child has come to the attention of Orange County Juvenile Court and invites the tribe to verify child enrollment and to accept jurisdiction of the child dependency proceedings. The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) handles all Probate and Legal Guardian cases that come to the attention of SSA via Probate Court. This includes all Special Immigration investigations. SIU also houses CFS's Inter County Transfer Liaison who facilitates the transfer of dependency cases in and out of Orange County based on legal jurisdiction for the case. As the manager overseeing operations of Court Services I ensure that all staff are properly trained and equipped to investigate child abuse allegations, assess the safety of children under their supervision, and ensure that the needs of Orange County's most vulnerable children are met. I am responsible for planning, developing and implementing policies and procedures for ensuring compliance with federal and state performance mandates for CS employees.

As an Administrative Manager (AMII) in Emergency Response (ER) I directly supervise 6 Senior Social Services Supervisor's (SSSS), 1 Social Services Supervisor 1 (SSSI), and 1 Secretary. My span of control is 49 employees which includes 6 SSSS's, 1 SSSI, 1 Secretary, 38 Senior Social Workers (SSW), and 4 Social Worker II’s (SWII). I also serve as a liaison for 7 Public Health Nurses assigned to ER and to CAR/ER clerical staff housed within the department. ER employees are responsible for investigating child abuse referrals called into the Child Abuse Hotline. I am responsible to ensuring that child abuse referrals are assigned and distributed timely and equitably to ERI, ERII and ERIII and that SSW's responding to referrals have adequate support and assistance from SWII's. I ensure that SSW's responding to and SSSS's supervising child abuse investigations are properly trained and equipped to investigate child abuse. I am responsible for planning, developing and implementing policies and procedures for ensuring compliance with federal and state performance mandates for Emergency Response employees. I work collaboratively with ERII and ERIII managers to ensure that all referrals are responded to in a manner that provides safety for Orange County children in the least restrictive manner. As part of an ER Management On-Call Team, I am responsible for SSA business conducted after hours. I work towards innovation in practice and business flow as evidenced by my current partnership with IT to program an Emergency Response Assignment System to streamline the referral assignment process. I am also assigned to represent Orange County as a team member of the California Core Team for Structured Decision Making (a social work practice tool utilized to assess safety). I am responsible for the ER Child Sexual Exploitation (CSEC) Team for the County of Orange. Lastly, I was an early adopter for Safety Organized Practice (SOP) for Orange Couny.

As an Administrative Manager (AMI) in Program Integrity (PI) I managed the Appeals Division and Civil Rights Discrimination investigators. I was also the Operations Manager and Back-Up Grievance Review Officer (GRO). As the Appeals manager I was responsible for managing multiple layers of staff who conduct State and County Appeals. My duties included: supervising staff; write performance evaluations and memos of expectations as needed; respond effectively to all customer service complaints; maintain proficient knowledge of CDSS State Hearing and County Hearing regulations; updating PI procedures regarding Appeals; facilitating and instituting new hearing types in the program as mandated; working with CDSS State Hearing Division (SHD) in ensuring Appeals are scheduled and processed appropriately; conducting trainings on State Hearings for TCD; ensuring that Appeals staff is properly trained; ensuring that Appeals staff process hearing requests timely and complete all necessary hearing documents correctly; reporting Appeals statistics on a monthly basis; consulting with CDSS SHD as necessary; ensuring that claimants receive proper consultation and direction as to the Appeals process; ensure that Appeal Representatives represent SSA in SHD hearings before an Administrative Law Judge(ALJ) in a manner that represents SSA’s values and mission. My duties as the manager of staff who investigate Civil Rights Discrimination complaints and inquiries included: ensuring that the complaint/inquiry process adheres to the timelines and mandates outlined in Division 21 of CDSS MPP; ensuring that the complainant is treated fairly and with respect; communicating with CDSS Civil Rights Bureau (CRB) on all Civil Rights investigations; maintaining communication with SSA management team and QST in the event of a Civil Rights Discrimination finding; making recommendations to SSA programs as to ways to improve compliance with Division 21 mandates; write and submit an Annual Civil Rights Plan to CDSS CRB; organize Civil Rights Reviews for CDSS CRB for regularly scheduled audits; maintain statistics on the number of Civil Rights inquiries and investigations received; advise Civil Rights Investigators and review all written materials sent to CDSS CRB on behalf of SSA; communicate with Quality Support Team (QST) as needed. My duties as a Back-Up GRO included: conducting hearings with Children and Family Service(CFS) staff, the complainant and attorney’s related to the Department of Justice (DOJ) Child Abuse Central Index (CACI), Placement, Adoption Home Study, Child Support, and Non-Minor Dependent Grievances; review CWS/CMS referrals and cases, review documentary evidence in preparation for a hearing; review testimony and written records prior to issuing a recommended decision to the Director of CFS; consult with County Counsel as needed; communicate with QST as needed. As Operations Manager in PI my duties included: manage vacancy factor and position numbers for the program; submit Requests to Fill (RTF) for vacancies; interview and hire staff; manage furniture and space needs of PI; handle issues with PI’s telephone system; work with the facilities manager and leasing agent in identifying and correcting building issues; look for inefficiencies in our program and develop creative staffing alternatives; facilitate Open Window annually; manage Human Resource issues with PI’s staff.

As an Emergency Response (ER) Senior Social Services Supervisor (SSSS) I supervised up to eight Emergency Response Senior Social Workers (SSWs) who conduct child abuse investigations. My duties include: having a firm knowledge of child abuse laws as outlined in the Welfare and Institutions 300 code as well as the penal code and SSA child welfare policy; assess child welfare and child safety issues; ensure that SSWs complete the initial investigation and assessment of child abuse referrals received thoroughly and accurately; ensure staff meet CDSS mandates to complete investigations timely; ensure that SSWs document case actions appropriately and timely; complete monthly statistics; utilize Structured Decision Making Tools; utilize and practice Safety Organized Practice (SOP) with my staff; provide guidance, consultation and support to my staff and any other ER SSWs on a daily basis; review and sometimes write warrants to request removal of a child(ren) from a parent(s); collaborate with County Counsel, law enforcement, Child Abuse Registry, Public Health Nurses and SSA management team as necessary; attend Team Decision Making (TDM) meetings; proficiency in CWS/CMS state computer system; approve ER referrals and promote to a case to be referred to Orange County Juvenile Court or to Voluntary Family Services (VFS); attend and participate in job related work groups and policy development; write performance evaluations and memos of expectations as needed; respond effectively to all customer service complaints.

In Specialized Family Services (SFS) I supervised Senior Social Workers in the medical unit. The medical unit consisted of continuous court workers, a medical placement coordinator, and medical intake coordinators. The unit provided services to medically fragile children who are dependents of Orange County Juvenile Court. Duties included: interfacing with local hospitals, doctors and Orangewood Children and Family Center Medical unit; working with Orange County Juvenile Court and community partners; managing referrals; interfacing with Medi-Cal; reviewing and approving specialized foster care rates for medically fragile children placed in foster care and facilities; advocating for children assigned to my unit; conducting safety assessments; complete monthly statistics; attend and participate in job related workgroups and policy development; ensure that placements met all licensing and fire clearance regulations.

As an Emergency Response (ER) Senior Social Worker (SSW) my duties include: having a firm knowledge of child abuse laws as outlined in the Welfare and Institutions 300 code as well as the penal code and SSA child welfare policy; assess child welfare and child safety issues; ensure that the initial child abuse investigation and assessment of child abuse was completed timely, thoroughly and accurately; ensure that case actions were documented appropriately and timely; utilize Structured Decision Making Tools; write Detention Hearing Reports when a child(ren) was taken into custody; provide education and assistance to Orange Police Department as I was Outstationed at Orange Police Department; collaborate with County Counsel, law enforcement, Child Abuse Registry, Public Health Nurses and SSA management team as necessary; attend Team Decision Making (TDM) meetings; proficiency in CWS/CMS state computer system; submit ER referrals for approval and consideration to be referred to Orange County Juvenile Court or to Voluntary Family Services (VFS); respond effectively to all customer service complaints.

As an Integrated Continuing Services (ICS) Senior Social Worker (SSW) I provided for the protection and safety of abused children who are dependents of Orange County Juvenile Court. I assisted families with case management for Family Reunification (FR), Family Maintenance (FM), and Permanency planning. Duties include: case management; monthly in person visits with each child on my caseload, each parent receiving FM or FR services, and each caregiver for children in out of home placement on my caseload; monthly contact with services providers working with each individual on my caseload; documenting all contact with individuals and providers in CWS/CMS; writing court reports on each family's progress and submitting them to Orange County Juvenile Court as requested by the Court; utilize Structured Decision Making Tools; attend Team Decision Making (TDM) meetings; proficiency in the Welfare and Institutions Code 300; proficiency in CWS/CMS; ensure children on my caseload received visitation with their parent()s) and siblings as ordered by the Court; ensure that all orders of the Orange County Juvenile Court regarding a family on my caseload were followed; complete monthly statistics; respond effectively to all customer service complaints.