Advocates for at-risk children are fighting to lessen the workload on Child Protective Services case workers.
They're urging Governor Andrew Cuomo to pass a bill that would limit the number of cases each person could take at one time to 15.
State Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo and CSEA union representatives continued their push on Tuesday in Binghamton. They say right now, case workers in the Southern Tier can take on as many as 35 cases in one month, and it's even worse in other parts of the state.
"It's way too much. There's a real staffing issue," said CSEA Legislative and Political Coordinator Rick Noreault. "These folks go to bed every night, worrying if they've done the right thing, hoping that somebody hasn't fallen through the cracks. Because when you get in that kind of a situation, that's when there can be an issue."
If the bill is passed, counties would have two years to phase in more staff members to help lower the number of caseloads per person and cut down on overtime.