Josephine County juvenile-justice director warns of staffing shortfalls, asks board for expedited hiring

Juvenile Justice Director Goodwin warned the Josephine County Board of Commissioners that staffing shortages in the county's juvenile detention and residential treatment programs are creating operational strain and increasing overtime costs.

Goodwin said the department operates six distinct programs and that the two involving placements'the juvenile detention facility and the residential treatment center'require licensed staffing ratios. Goodwin said current direct-care staffing across the facilities is about 18.6 full-time-equivalent positions for the budgeted resident levels, and that shift staffing differs by time of day (more staff on day/swing shifts than on graveyard). "When we lose a staff, it takes us a little longer than most departments to train one," Goodwin said, noting extensive onboarding and training requirements.

Nut graf: Goodwin told commissioners the department is repeatedly losing staff and frequently must rely on a transient on-call list; he asked the board to allow a faster personnel process in some cases so the department can maintain the staff-to-youth ratios required by licensing and the contracts that fund the programs.

Discussion and request Goodwin described a recent string of departures: a voluntary resignation of a swing-shift lead (a critical supervisory role), another staff resignation and the planned departure of an education provider. He said the department is at risk of incurring substantial overtime and could reach a point where it cannot safely meet licensing requirements. Goodwin also stressed that the juvenile programs generate roughly $1 million annually in revenue tied to bed counts and placements, so maintaining staffing is tied to sustaining that contract revenue.

Board reaction and next steps Commissioners asked questions about cross-training and internal promotion; Goodwin said the department attempts to promote group-lead counselors when possible, but doing so can create downstream vacancies. County finance staff and the chair indicated board policy originally limited refilling some positions, and that the board needs to determine whether this opening meets the threshold for an exception. The board agreed to defer final action for a week so commissioners could review the request and seek additional information.

Ending: Goodwin and staff will return with any requested documentation and the board said it will revisit the personnel request at the next meeting to decide whether to allow the hire as an exception to the current hiring hold.