MONTICELLO – While the openings of Sullivan County’s casino earlier this year and a luxury spa recently helped boost employment opportunities for mainstream workers, there is one segment of the population the economic boom is not reaching.
“We’re at mission critical at this point in time,” according to Joseph Todora, the county’s Health and Family Services Commissioner. “The adult services business is busier than ever in Sullivan County.”
Todora said there remains a marginalized segment of the population affected by several factors including lack of skills, age, and more recently, the opioid epidemic.
That’s putting a load on county caseworkers. The problem is there are eight vacant caseworker positions.
Pay disparity is an issue. The starting salary in Sullivan County is $34,000 a year. In neighboring Delaware County, with a smaller population, the starting salary is $38,000.
Deputy County Manager Dan Depew said they have come up with what they
hope will be a way to attract new caseworkers.
“We were able to come up with a proposal that raised the base wage of a caseworker, will not affect the budget because we have, I think, eight department vacancies in the caseworker positions. So, by getting rid of one caseworker vacancy, we can elevate up the base wage.”
It is not a “silver bullet,” Depew conceded, but this could help.
Todora said the current staff members are doing the best they can but are buried in paperwork.
