Bill would boost benefits for social workers
Social work can be a risky business.
In February, an angry mother in Woburn slammed a door into a social worker's face during a home visit. In April, a Fitchburg woman threw a potted plant at a social worker's head. In July, a social worker in Lowell was almost run down by a pickup driven by a disgruntled former client.
And overshadowing all of these recent reports is the slaying of Linda Silva, a Department of Social Services worker who was murdered in 1996 by a father who had lost custody of his children.
State social workers say these examples show the potential dangers they face every day, and because of those hazards, they deserve better retirement benefits.
State Representative Martin J. Walsh, Democrat of Boston, and state Senator Brian A. Joyce, Democrat of Milton, are the lead sponsors of a bill that would do just that. If passed, the legislation would boost DSS workers into a higher-paying category of the state retirement system. A hearing on the bill was held yesterday at the State House.
The Massachusetts State Board of Retirement classifies state employees under four categories: Group 4 covers police and some correction officers; Group 3 covers State Police; Group 2 covers employees that include mental health hospital attendants, county elevator maintenance men, municipal electricians, juvenile probation officers, some correction officers, and court officers. Everyone else falls under Group 1, including social workers in the DSS.
Those workers want to move to Group 2, which allows employees to retire a few years earlier and receive a higher pension. They say their job is just as risky -- if not more so -- than many jobs in Group 2.
DSS workers are not the only government employees seeking better retirement benefits. Similar legislation has been filed to expand Group 2 coverage to other jobs, including Department of Public Health employees, electricians and elevator repairmen at public colleges and universities, parking meter supervisors, tree climbers, tree surgeons, and arborists.
The union representing the social workers says discrimination is also an issue in the effort to change the job classification.
''Part of this is a gender-equity issue," said Edward J. Malloy Jr., president of the DSS chapter of SEIU Local 509. Eighty percent of the DSS social workers are women, while 80 percent of the juvenile probation officers, who are classified in Group 2, are men, according to the Service Employees International Union.
A 55-year-old DSS social worker with 33 years of state service and an annual salary of $44,215 would receive $21,886 in yearly retirement benefits while classified under Group 1, according to Jan Imonti, a DSS supervisor in Hyde Park and Boston regional vice president for Local 509. A juvenile probation officer of the same age, experience, and salary would receive $7,300 more annually while classified under Group 2.
A 58-year-old DSS social worker with 15 years of state service and an annual salary of $38,000 would receive $10,263 in yearly retirement benefits under Group 1. In Group 2, the payout would be increased to $13,114, Imonti said.
Summer Twyman was the social worker who had a door slammed on her face in February. She was out of work for months. Her injuries included a concussion and nerve damage. While she was out of work, she used up her sick time and received less pay. She also had to cover some medical expenses.
Twyman, 24, returned to her job at the DSS office in Cambridge in June, while following up with physicians and her neurologist.
''I've been out to many homes with police officers during removals. It's because of those situations [police and probation officers] get those benefits . . . we are in those same homes," she said.
''We should get equal benefits," Twyman said.
Emily Sweeney can be reached at esweeney@globe.com. 
