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DCF reports slow decline in family-services vacancies; residential bed capacity remains constrained
Summary
Department for Children and Families officials told lawmakers vacancies among family service workers have fallen from a summer high and that use of temporary staffing and residential placements has declined but residential capacity remains roughly half of pre‑COVID levels because community programs lack staff.
Commissioner Winters and DCF officials told a legislative budget subcommittee on Oct. 12 that vacancies for family service workers have decreased but remain a pressure point for the department.
The discussion opened with the committee asking about the budgeted vacancy‑savings percentage; the department’s financial director said the common assumption is roughly 3 to 4 percent. "We, it's about 3%, 3 to 4%, but it does vary depending on the appropriation," the financial director said. Committee members pressed whether that estimate still fits the current labor market and whether divisions with higher turnover were stabilizing.
Erica Radke, Deputy Commissioner of the Family Services Division, said the division has reduced vacancies from a summer high of 28 to about 16–17 currently. "We are at, I believe, 17 FSW saving or FSW vacancies, and that is down from a high of 28 vacancies in the summer," Radke said. DCF has expanded recruitment and retention efforts and is piloting mentoring and a 40/10 schedule (four 10‑hour days and one day off) to improve work–life balance; Radke said workers responded positively to the schedule and it helped foster‑family contact after hours.
Committee members also asked about so‑called "staffing" — temporary staff coverage when youth await placement. DCF officials said the department has reduced reliance on family service workers for that work by contracting with outside providers and using a specially trained AHS internal team. "We...believe that at this point, the family services workers are not doing nearly as much staffing. It may be down to about 20% of our workers needing the staff, whereas the 80% is a combination of TLC, respite providers, and the CATS team," Radke said.
Despite these gains, DCF officials said residential bed capacity for community‑based programs remains well below pre‑COVID levels because many providers cannot hire enough staff to operate beds. "It's about 50 to 55 percent" of pre‑COVID licensed capacity, Radke said. The department also has a funded developmental‑needs bed and cited the opening of a Clover program as helping to reduce staffing burdens in some regions. Officials said they will provide the committee a more detailed breakdown of bed types and where funding currently sits.
Lawmakers pressed the department to track the reallocation of resources from facilities such as Woodside and to provide clearer breakdowns of contractual versus personal‑services costs tied to secure residential line items. DCF said follow‑up materials are being prepared for the committee.
The exchange focused on discussion and status updates; there were no formal votes or committee directives recorded during the hearing segment.
Looking ahead, DCF said it will continue to emphasize recruitment, retention, and alternatives to family‑service staff doing temporary overnight staffing while working with the committee to supply more granular budget and bed‑type data.
