In today’s rapidly evolving workplace, County managers are tasked with not only guiding their teams but also ensuring a safe, supportive, and compliant environment. This seminar offers an in-depth exploration of the County’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and their crucial role in fostering workplace well-being. Attendees will learn effective strategies for handling EAP-related matters, including how to navigate the complexities of workplace dynamics, threat management, and the impact of social media on employee interactions.

This workshop is also designed to cultivate the wellbeing and psychological resilience of attendees and help them better support those with whom they work.

Participants will:

• Learn what EAP offers and how it benefits both staff and the County
• Define best practices for managers when dealing with difficult workplace situations and ensuring employee confidentiality
• Understand the role of social media and how to navigate challenges and opportunities in the workplace
• Cultivate the importance of clear communication and documentation in Statements of Understanding in the workplace to ensure roles and responsibilities are understood

Speakers:

Matthew J. Jorgensen, Ph.D.

HR Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

I received my master’s and doctorate degrees in clinical psychology from the University of Missouri – St. Louis and I have been a licensed psychologist since 2005.

I began my work with LA County in the Department of Mental Health in 2012.   While I was with DMH I worked at Central Juvenile Hall where I supervised two intensive mental health treatment programs and served as the Acting Program Manager.  In 2017 I joined the Department of Human Resources where I perform psychological pre-employment evaluations and fitness for duty evaluations, provide employee assistance counseling, and develop and provide training on various mental health and wellbeing-related topics.  I have also maintained a private practice since 2006.

Adiel Vasquez

LASD Threat Management/Security Op Unit

Adiel “A.D.” Vasquez is the Workplace Violence Program Manager for the Security Operations Unit (SOU); he has been with the County since 1986.  The majority of his 38-year career has been working with and along law enforcement, including 13 with the Sheriff’s Department and the past 18 in County Administration for the Chief Executive Office and Board of Supervisors.

With those 18 years, he holds the longest County tenure in the County’s Workplace Violence & Threat Management Program and is the only member of the current SOU team to have worked for the Office of Security Management (OSM), the County’s previous and original Workplace Violence & Threat Assessment unit.

A.D. is an active, long-time member of industry-leading Association of Threat Assessment Professionals (ATAP).

Cesar Romero LASD

Threat Management/Security Op Unit

Deputy Cesar Romero is a 32-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. His career has encompassed many factions of the Department with an emphasis on teaching and working with the community. While assigned to patrol, he taught with the VIDA Program, a project targeting community teens at risk for narcotics and gang involvement due to socio-economic status. It taught them life skills, good decision-making skills and how to take responsibility for their actions. He also worked Community Relations, where he taught the Community Academy, a forum that allowed residents a close-up look into their local Sheriff’s Station, how it operated and law enforcement in general.

At the Success Through Awareness and Resistance (STAR) Unit, he partnered with parents, teachers, and the community to provide drug, gang, and violence prevention education to students in local schools. In his current assignment at the Security Operations Unit, besides providing security for Los Angeles County elected officials, and investigating crimes occurring in the courtroom, he trains Los Angeles County employees, in various safety procedures, such as general location awareness safety, what to do in the event of an active shooter at their place of business and how to recognize workplace violence.

Deputy Romero is also President of the Los Angeles Sheriffs’ Professional Association, an employee union representing over 3000 sheriff’s department members.