Four resignations reported at Rutherford County DSS as state CFSP hires begin

Rutherford County Department of Social Services Director Hunt told the board the department received four resignations in the prior week as a state-managed Child and Family Specialty Plan (CFSP) began hiring staff statewide, and she described steps the department is taking to sustain services.

"We have had this week within the last we've had 4 resignations this week," Director Hunt said. She told the board the CFSP contractor, described in the meeting as Elevance/Healthy Blue (Healthy Blue Together), is hiring roughly 400 workers across seven regions and in some cases offering salaries "$15,000 to $20,000 more" and sign-on bonuses, which has drawn experienced child-welfare staff away.

Hunt said the CFSP is a state-managed initiative intended to provide additional services and funding for foster and adoptive children with mental-health needs; the department's staff described the pay differential and the state umbrella status of the program as key drivers of the departures. Hunt said she had raised concerns with state partners about the timing of the program and the department's responsibilities for remaining adoption and foster-care work while the CFSP assumes some functions.

To maintain operations, the department increased the use of contract workers who already hold required pre-service training. Fiscal staff and the director said the department now relies on a sizeable pool of contract employees (estimated in the meeting at about 10— to 20 people) to cover casework and to respond to vacancies. Hunt said one internal position was repurposed to fund the Apex security contract without adding net recurring county payroll cost.

Board members asked about recruiting and retention efforts. Staff said Rutherford County DSS had recently begun using Indeed and reinstating hiring signs, was pursuing word-of-mouth outreach and working with the state's workforce development team and universities to recruit candidates and interns; staff estimated roughly three interns since 2022 had converted to hires in Rutherford County. Hunt said the department plans to continue exit interviews to gather feedback from departing staff.

The board did not take formal action on personnel policy at the meeting. Several members expressed concern about the potential for state-level program changes to erode county services if local recruitment and retention do not keep pace.