State Mental Retardation Agency Planning Layoffs

Law-enforcement officers from the state Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities are facing layoffs at the end of the summer as the agency plans a workforce reduction that will shift some of their duties to non-uniformed staff.

Thirty-seven positions of about 250 statewide will be eliminated, many of which, according to the agency, will be cut through attrition. One of the workers, Thomas Angell, said that eight officers in his Staten Island department would be terminated at the end of the summer.

'Trying to Phase Us Out'

"It looks like they are trying to phase out our department entirely," said Mr. Angell. These officers provide 24-hour security for OMRDD residential facilities. Much of their work would be shifted to non-law-enforcement personnel.

"Many security officer-performed tasks . . . were related to safety inspec- tions and other oversight-related issues," said an OMRDD spokeswoman, Nicole Weinstein in a statement. "These tasks will be transitioned to other Developmental Disabilities Services Office staff, and will still continue to be conducted. Those security positions performing critical health and safety functions will remain intact."

She said that the Governor's Division of the Budget would allow the agency to fill vacancies on an as-needed basis, with priority given to maintaining health and safety.

Mr. Angell said that he and many of his colleagues attempted to transfer into the state Department of Correctional Services through an upcoming Correction Officer Trainee class, but they were denied entry. Now they have been offered a transfer to a direct care position that would require a three-grade decrease in salary. "It's miserable," he said of the morale in his office. "They've been talking about this since March. Who wants to be unemployed?"

Mr. Angell, who takes care of his mother and younger brother, fears what will happen to his family if he loses his job, or he is forced to take a severe pay cut.

Calls Union Unresponsive

These law-enforcement officers don't know where to turn to because they feel abandoned by their union, New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, which has been preoccupied with a larger fight to preserve more jobs in the state jail system.

"We've heard nothing" from the union, said Mr. Angell. "We're angry because we're paying our dues. They said only 38 people are being laid off. They don't really care. It's really evident." Union president Donn Rowe declined to comment.

Mr. Angell said the officers also feel shortchanged by OMRDD, which he said blames Albany for the layoffs. "They are using the shield of a faceless administration, when in reality they are trying to get rid of us," he said.

Ms. Weinstein said that the agency was required to make these cuts by the budget, which called for the reduction of "its safety officer workforce at nonsecure facility programs statewide."

Layoff letters are scheduled to go out on Aug. 1, with the last day of work on Aug. 26, according to Mr. Angell.

"It's a hard pill to swallow," he said. "All of us had different opportunities in the past, and we thought civil service meant you could stay put; you got a job. Now we don't."