Our state budget must invest in our most vulnerable and properly fund DCYF and DHS | Opinion
Heather Croteau is a Family Services Unit supervisor at the Department of Children, Youth and Families. Linda McBride is a supervisor in the Economic Support Services Unit at the Department of Human Services. Both are members of SEIU Local 580.
Every Rhode Islander, no matter their background or zip code, deserves access to healthy food, health care and a safe place to live. Every day, dedicated state employees and members of SEIU Local 580 make sure elderly citizens have medical support, children have safe as well as loving homes, and parents have enough food to feed their kids.
But short staffing, high turnover and lack of support make it difficult to do our jobs. We need the General Assembly and the McKee administration to value those we care for as much as we do — as well as fully fund our jobs in this year’s state budget.
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Our mission as employees of the Department of Human Services and the Department of Children, Youth and Families is to provide care and services to Rhode Island’s most vulnerable. Every day, 400 members of the Service Employees International Union at DCYF make sure children are raised in a safe, caring environment. From helping protect children from abuse and neglect, to giving them the tools to attain a college education, DCYF employees build Rhode Island’s future by investing in its kids.
At DHS, 250 SEIU members connect thousands of Rhode Islanders with a wide array of benefits. These benefits ensure that low-income families can feed their children, that residents receive life-saving health care, and that elderly as well as disabled adults receive longterm care in the setting of their choice. In 2021 alone, DHS issued SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits to over 80,000 households, and, at last count, helped more than 150,000 aging residents access supportive services including home care, health care and housing.
Despite the critical importance of our work, our employees face real challenges. Since January 2022, 116 DCYF employees have left, with 66 resigning. As of March 2022, 66 vacancies remained in our department. Reduction of our workforce and lack of funded positions has led to acute caseloads, safety concerns, worker burnout and turnover. All of these have profound consequences. We always said it would be a matter of time until someone got hurt under these conditions, and unfortunately, last month, a DCYF worker was violently assaulted at a group home and suffered serious injury.
Working conditions are equally dire in DHS, where we have 118 vacancies. Lack of staff recruitment and retention is allowing too many Rhode Islanders to fall through the cracks and experience delays or even denial of services. As a result, SNAP recipients go hungry, and seniors waiting for home care assistance have had to enter institutional care or pay exorbitant out of pocket expenses. And most tragically, elderly residents have died before we’ve been able to assist them.
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It doesn’t have to be this way. We can take concrete steps today to restore funding, boost wages, and recruit and retain skilled workers by taking advantage of strategic partnerships like the Rhode Island College School of Social Work, which can help with training, onboarding and placement. At DCYF, we must fully fund all 705 current positions, and immediately fill the 117 vacant positions in DHS. But that’s not all that’s needed. As a society, we must fundamentally change our culture to one that places more value on our workforce, the services we provide, and the people who benefit.
Our state budget is as much of a moral document as it is a fiscal one. Budgets dictate our priorities, and it is past time to make sure our lawmakers and the McKee administration are prioritizing our seniors, families and children.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Lawmakers and the McKee administration must prioritize our seniors, families and children.
