Burke on Blair County Children Youth and Families

By Laura Burke

Blair County

Commissioner

It is no secret that Blair County Children Youth and Families has struggled during the last several years. The Agency faces a complex situation that is affected by over-regulation, workforce shortages, high volume of referrals, not to mention low morale and burnout among staff. Recently the County entered into a Settlement Agreement with the Department of Human Services to restore its license while we continue to work to correct the problems that have developed over the last several years. One item of note in that settlement agreement specifically references the County making increased efforts at recruitment and retention.

It is rare that County government is in a position to offer any sort of monetary incentive to its employees. The Family First Transition Act funding offered one of these rare opportunities. The Agency proposed to spend a portion of this Federal funding on retention incentives for both non-union and union staff and to spend the remainder to support kinship foster care families who need modifications to their homes in order to become appropriate placements for children. The money was originally awarded in 2021, but several extensions to spend the money had been given as counties across the nation struggled first with Covid, and then to spend the money in ways that fit the criteria set forth by the Federal government. As is typical in these situations, the longer the money sat, the more flexible the funding provider became.

I understand fully the skepticism about using this money to provide incentives to employees in an Agency that has faced licensing challenges. But please consider: of the 11 non-union employees who were put forward to receive this incentive, only two worked in leadership in the Agency throughout the past five years and of those two only one is in the same position they were at the beginning of 2020. Three of these employees were caseworkers who received promotions during the last five years to fill voids left by supervisory staff who resigned when faced with adversity. One was a union-eligible staff member in the fiscal unit who has since been promoted to a non-union position. The remaining five non-union staff have all been hired in the midst of this crisis, after the Agency was already on a Provisional license. These are people who are running toward the fire and trying to help us put it out.

With a new Union contract that raised the caseworker hourly rate to $20.00 an hour plus sign on bonuses we have been able to increase the ranks of caseworkers from our all-time low of 5 to 15 full time and 2 part time caseworkers. We contracted with a private provider for additional caseworkers to cover cases accepted for on-going services and we have part time temporary caseworkers from other counties helping us address the backlog of cases that developed.

Of the 17 county employees among these caseworkers, only 2 were hired prior to 2020. These employees work normal business hours and then take emergency duty shifts to provide around the clock coverage for the children of Blair County. With such low numbers and many of their co-workers still in training they are working after hours multiple times per week. They work with families in crisis who come from all walks of life, they interact with law enforcement, medical providers, attorneys, hearing officers, judges, and their clients. They do not get to say no to cases or turn clients away. Their job requires a four-year degree, a lengthy process of training, knowledge of statutes and regulations, patience, intelligence, attention to detail, and determination.

It takes special people to look at jobs on the front lines of child welfare and say, “Yes, I can do that.” It takes extraordinary resolve to face the adversity that this Agency faces, to endure derision and disrespect from the people you seek to help, to be called a failure by county leaders, and to continue showing up to work every day.

The process of bringing Blair County Children, Youth, and Families back to a healthy level of staffing and regulatory compliance will take multiple years. Leaders will be challenged to do things that have not been done before in this County in order to improve staffing. It may be uncomfortable and it may be met with skepticism, but the safety of Blair County’s children is worth it. I support every effort we can make to find ways to reward these employees and to attract new ones.