Employees of Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court are petitioning the Board of Supervisors of Fairfax County reexamine the evidence which preclude said employees to qualify for hazard pay as designated by the Occupational Health and Standards Administration.  The undersigned are employed by various residential service branches/programs of Fairfax County Juvenile Court including the Juvenile Detention Center, Stepping Stones Therapeutic program, Foundations Therapeutic Program, Shelter Care II, BETA program, Intensive Supervision Program (ISP) and Supervised Release Services.

Based on the nature of our job responsibilities which are essential services, we require extended close contact with COVID positive individuals and at risk individuals, putting our health and the health of our families at risk.  We have continued to work and keep Fairfax County open.  Fairfax County residential employees have stepped up, working extra shifts, longer and irregular hours, performing tasks outside of our regular duties, and exposing both ourselves and our own families to the virus even before we had access to proper protocols and personal protective equipment.

The Board of Supervisors is proposing to limit access to this hazard pay to a total of four juvenile court employees. We are respectfully demanding a reexamination and opportunity to sit at the table trough collective bargaining of the hazard pay.  We are also demanding a reconsideration to also include the invaluable relief staff, who stepped in to keep the programs running when full time staff became ill or quarantined.