In Contra Costa County, one of the nine Bay Area counties, I work in social services. As an elected union officer, I organize and represent our unit of eligibility workers and social workers. We are literally the ones who determine who is eligible to have access to what the United States has designed to be our social safety net. I have been in this job for more than five years.

Rappers make songs about us. If you want food stamps, cash aid, or Medicaid, you come to me and my fellow union members. If you’re a mandated reporter and you call the referral line to report suspected child abuse, we are the ones who pick up the phones and investigate, removing children from dangerous homes where need-be. We are the ones who determine whether an older person is eligible for in-home support services (IHSS) so that they can stay out of a nursing home. We are also disaster workers helping out fire-ridden neighbors, just to the north of us in Sonoma County.

Our jobs are sometimes dangerous because we visit people’s homes who may not always have the resources to maintain a safe home for themselves, their family, and other occupants. We are regularly subjected to emotional, verbal, and sometimes even physical abuse and danger. Usually, many things have already gone wrong in a person’s life before they land at our doorstep requiring government assistance. All this is to say our job is stressful, and the turnover in our unit is high.