Workers return to San Bernardino offices following massacre

Hundreds of employees are returning Monday to San Bernardino’s Inland Regional Center for the first time since a mass shooting at a holiday party left 14 people dead.

Monday morning, the office was surrounded by fencing, and security guards checked employees for identification at each entrance.

“We are very happy to be back at our IRC home”, said Lavinia Johnson with the regional center.

Amid the investigation and cleanup, the campus has been locked behind a chain-link fence wrapped in green mesh.

For now, the act of reuniting elsewhere on campus is a huge step forward for Inland Regional Center staff. They miss the friendly faces, the hallway chit chat.

ABC News noted that the complex’s 600 employees will return to work on Monday for the first time since the massacre on December 2.

The leader of the social service center in San Bernardino where 14 people were killed last month says she expects all of her staff to be back on the job as the facility reopens.

Since the attack, few employees of the center that serves autistic children and mentally disabled adults have gone to the office, other than for brief visits to gather personal belongings. “We want to ensure that our staff feels safe and secure as they work in their offices”.

Counsellors would be on hand to offer support to workers, Johnson said.

Sitting for an interview last week in a tidy courtyard shaded by two of the center’s large, red stone buildings, Johnson and associate executive director Kevin Urtz reflected on the reopening. “It is normal for them to have some anxiety”, she said. Some operations were moved off-site and about 350 iPads will be distributed to employees, allowing them remote access to email, voicemail, records and client information.

A fence erected around the center after the attacks will remain up and security officers will be posted at the campus, Johnson said.

FILE – Pictures of victims of the Dec. 2, 2015, terror attack are displayed at a makeshift memorial in San Bernardino, California, Dec. 7, 2015.