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Trumbull County 911 director reports trainee losses, recommends ending paid testing program
Summary
At the March 19 workshop 911 Director Casey McDonough described recent trainee attrition and recommended ending a $6,000 training program that has not correlated with retention; commissioners also discussed budget constraints and a hiring freeze.
Casey McDonough, director of Trumbull County 911, told commissioners on March 19 that the emergency communications center has lost two trainees in recent weeks and continues to face recruitment and retention challenges.
McDonough said one trainee left voluntarily for better hours and another failed to progress during a 57-day training period, still working on non-emergency call-handling while peers were already answering 911 calls and learning radio procedures. "When you're on day 57 and you're still in call take training on just non emergency phone calls, usually, by that point in the training, they're answering 911 phone calls by then," McDonough said, explaining why the department discontinued moving forward with that trainee.
McDonough also told the board the department experimented with a $6,000 paid testing/assessment program (referred to as "critical") that did not reliably predict on-the-job success. He recommended not renewing the $6,000 program because candidates who scored highly on the tests sometimes failed in the practical training environment. Commissioners and staff noted retention challenges are compounded by budget constraints and a hiring freeze; one county official said the commissioners' budget had been cut by $3,000,000 and that hiring for some vacancies would be delayed.
The 911 office said it is continuing recruiting and scheduling additional testing to rebuild training classes; staff reported multiple applicants and several trainees at various stages. McDonough said the department remains among the few still hiring amid county-wide budget pressures because its staffing levels warrant ongoing recruitment.
Ending The board did not take a formal vote in the workshop on funding changes to 911 but heard that the department will discontinue the $6,000 test program and continue internal recruiting and training. Commissioners emphasized the public-safety risk of staffing shortfalls and supported continued recruitment within the county's fiscal constraints.
