CONCORD — New Hampshire’s Department of Health and Human Services has hired just two of the 27 child protection service workers it received funding for in June, according to the commissioner, though more may be on the way.
In a letter sent Tuesday to Senate President Donna Soucy and House Speaker Steve Shurtleff, Commissioner Jeffrey Meyers said the department had hired the two after receiving its funding June 3.
“The Department is committed to filling the positions with qualified personnel as quickly and efficiently as possible,” Meyers said in the letter.
Those workers help the state open cases examining allegations of abuse or neglect in certain families. For years, the state child services agency, Division for Children, Youth and Families, has struggled with high worker caseloads, leading to employee burnout, high turnover and daunting backlog.
Lawmakers from both parties came together during the legislative session to fund an expansion of positions, which Gov. Chris Sununu signed in June. Because the effort, SB 6, was passed outside of the budget, those appropriations have moved ahead despite Sununu’s veto of the state budget.
The bill set aside about $8.5 million for the effort, of which $2.5 million consisted of federal funds. The money is designed to hire 27 caseworker positions by July 2020 and 30 more by July 2021, as well as 20 supervisors over those two years.
So far, though, a job recruitment effort has resulted in two caseworkers and a supervisor. Up to 12 more could be admitted based on department recommendations, Meyers said.
In his letter, Meyers said part of the reason for the delay was a natural administrative process. It took until June 19 to carry out an assessment of the agency to determine areas of most need for staffing, and then until July 16 to create the positions in the state system and assign those positions to district offices and supervisors, Meyers wrote.
To increase efficiency, the department changed how it organizes job postings, allowing applicants to more easily apply for multiple positions at once.
“One goal was to accelerate the administrative process involved in posting and filling open positions so the Department may efficiently fill all positions created by SB 6, as well as to backfill positions that open due to promotions, retirements and other events leading to resignations,” Meyers wrote.
And district offices kicked in an effort too; both caseworkers were recruited from the offices directly, according to Meyers. The department has held three “Job Fests” since June; at the first one, in June, 27 showed up and 15 were selected for second interviews.
Meyers said more would be held on a monthly basis.
Addressing legislative leaders, Meyers acknowledged the urgency of making the new hires, which were first recommended by an outside audit in 2016 after a string of tragic incidents of child fatalities.
Still, the letter sparked criticism from Democrats, who accused Sununu of dragging his feet on hiring.
“We very frequently hear from the governor that he acknowledges this is an urgent crisis that we have to take care of immediately,” said Sen. Jon Morgan, a Brentwood Democrat, who sponsored SB 6. “He says the right things. I guess what I’m a little bit frustrated and disappointed by is that given the opportunity to press for real departmental change, I just don’t think his actions rise to the same level as his words.”
But Sununu defended the department’s progress, arguing that it was laying the groundwork for stronger hiring. And he that he had made filling all available positions a “top priority” for Meyers and his department.
“We have no greater obligation than the safety of our children, and that is why we are moving quickly to fill the new positions created by Senate Bill 6,” Sununu said in a statement. “While there is certainly more work to do, the progress that the Department has made in a relatively short time is encouraging.”