CLEARFIELD – A staffing shortage has continued to plague the Clearfield County Children & Youth Services Department.
For some time now, it’s been staffed at roughly 50 percent and currently manages a rising caseload while short eight caseworkers.
“We’ve had a major problem filling positions,” said County Commissioner Dave Glass at Tuesday’s board meeting.
“There hasn’t been anybody applying—at all—and our number of ChildLine reports and active cases aren’t going down either.”
This sent the county back to the bargaining table with Local Teamsters Union No. 205, which represents the CYS caseworkers.
Their resolution will raise the county’s starting rate from the previously agreed upon $15/hour to $18/hour, said Glass.
It was noted that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania reimburses the county 80 percent of the caseworkers’ salaries.
New hires, however, will have higher healthcare premium shares and deductibles than current CYS employees.
“We have to increase our starting rate to ensure we are taking care of our most at-risk kids,” said Glass.
Commissioner Mary Tatum was in concurrence, adding the county’s pay rate wasn’t even competitive with surrounding counties.
She said the county had job postings for months and saw area college graduates take jobs in Centre, Jefferson and Elk counties.
“We weren’t competitive and had job postings for months with no applications. Something had to be done; that’s not sustainable.”
And it’s not good for our kids, said Tatum, adding that at the end of the day, it’s about our kids—supporting and protecting our kids.
“What we were doing wasn’t working. It’s our hope to bring in more qualified caseworkers to alleviate the workload of current staff.”
Following board discussion, the commissioners voted to approve a memorandum of agreement with the Teamsters Union.
In addition to the new hire pay adjustments, it extends the county’s contract with its CYS caseworkers through 2027.
The county’s Salary Board also voted Tuesday to create two, full-time case aide positions with CYS, effective Aug. 22, at $14/hour.
The positions will not require a college degree as they only involve behind-the-scenes paperwork and supervised visitation.
In other business, the commissioners:
- approved a Child Welfare Information System (CWIS)` data sharing agreement.
- approved purchase of service agreements with: New Journey Counseling LLC, New Way Youth Services, Appalachian Youth Services, Pathway Adolescent Center Inc., and Life Span Family Services of PA.
- approved six new hires including Scott Muirhead as assistant director of tourism, effective Aug. 28, at a salary of $38,000 annually.
- approved three employee transfers, five employee separations/retirements and one employee leave.
- approved the minutes of the July 25 board meeting as presented by the chief clerk.
- approved the bills as presented by the Controller’s office.