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After the pandemic, Child Protective Services found itself short-staffed. Open caseworker positions were difficult to fill because of several factors. The Department of Human Services needed to act fast to remediate the issue, to get families the services necessary to ensure the safety of children at risk.
Fast forward to this past February, when CPS began holding open interviews for potential caseworkers at various locations around Rochester. On the first day at the Gates public library—as a winter storm was causing temperatures to plummet and schools to close—a line of people were waiting to be interviewed.
Overall, over 200 people were interviewed for the caseworker positions this spring.
What changed in such a short period of time to make such significant progress in hiring? This is a story about the role of government and its responsibility to ensure the health and safety of its citizens.
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“Despite being short-staffed, Child Protective Services has continued to respond to the urgent needs of children and families in our community,” said Julie Nichols, administrative caseworker for Monroe County Child and Family Services.
“But the more fully staffed we are, and the more workers we have with longevity,” continued Nichols, “the more time and attention we’re able to give to families.”
She explained that the caseworker position is typically a civil service hiring process, which used to take up to 4-5 months from start to finish. The daunting timeline—beginning with waiting for monthly job postings, followed by exams, interviews, and background checks—can be prohibitive for many candidates.
The first step in easing the process to make applications more accessible was the county’s decision to waive the county residency requirement. Prior to this change, caseworkers were required to currently live in the county, or agree to move within it once hired.
“The leaders of our county invested in this,” said Kathy Cardilli, Director of Child Protective Services. “County Executive Adam Bello waived exam fees and allowed for personal leave for caseworkers, which helped attract new candidates, to pave the way for permanent employment.” County Executive Bello also implemented a longevity bonus program to encourage people to stay in the jobs once they were recruited.
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Since civil service exam fees were waived for caseworker positions, the county was able to advertise on more sites for open job postings. A county recruiter was hired, which increased awareness of the open positions. And a provisional hiring option removed more barriers to employment by eliminating the wait time from application to hire.
“The provisional hiring option made such a difference in our hiring process,” said Nichols, “by removing all those steps and wait time.”
“And the response to the open interviews,” added Cardilli, “was overwhelming.” The open interviews were held four days per month in a variety of places in different areas of Rochester, including public libraries, The Hub 585, and Jay Street.
“We’ve done so many things as a department to recruit new caseworkers,” Cardilli said. “We’ve created videos on our website (see link in Resources below), posted on Facebook, worked on staff development, and held job fairs at area colleges to recruit new graduates, to name just a few of our efforts.”
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Why It Matters to Mandated Reporters
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“The mandated reporter population counts on us as a safety net in our community,” said Cardilli. “More staff will only provide a higher level of service to children and their families.”
So far this year, CPS has onboarded a new class of caseworkers in February, two in April, June, with the next wave of new hires starting in September. The total number of new caseworkers hired so far this year is 110.
“Even when we were short-staffed, we continued to work hard to serve our children and families in need,” said Nichols. “But when caseworkers have lower caseloads, they’re able to provide an even higher quality of service. The more resources they have, the better job they can do.”
Please share this information and the links below with someone you know who may be interested in working with CPS. The minimum requirements to apply include a bachelor’s degree, a valid driver’s license, and daily access to a personal vehicle.
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