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Supervisors tell Rutherford County DSS board caseloads have tripled recommended levels; some staff resigning
Summary
Multiple supervisors and a Guardian ad Litem speaker told the board that child-protection caseloads in Rutherford County have ballooned—assessors carrying 30–35 cases versus a 10-case guideline and foster workers carrying about 30 children compared with a 15-child guideline—while turnover and hiring delays are making it harder to protect children.
Several frontline supervisors and a Guardian ad Litem representative told the Rutherford County Department of Social Services board in November that staffing shortages are severe and pose risks to children and staff.
Ashley Earl, a child-protective-services supervisor, said staff "are struggling right now" and that "social workers are carrying them 2 to 3 times what the state is recommending that they carry." Shannon Kennedy, a seven-year CPS supervisor, said turnover has accelerated during the past two years and announced she had submitted notice, warning that missed work because of shortages raises liability and safety concerns.
Dana Davis, a new supervisor who has worked nearly four years in Rutherford County, provided numbers: she said the state guidance limits an assessor to 10 cases but staff are carrying "30 to 35" cases and that foster-care caseloads are about 30 per worker where the recommended size is 15. A Guardian ad Litem representative described repeated social-worker turnover and said children lose trust when they see multiple workers on a single case.
James McKnight, a CPS supervisor who addressed the board later, urged attention to pay parity with neighboring counties, saying counties that pay more attract staff after training investments and that retention incentives matter because social workers need one to three years to become fully autonomous.
Director Hunt and staff described steps the agency is taking: advertising (including a billboard during adoption-awareness month), contracting with placement agencies such as Vanguard to fill gaps, and using county-to-county assistance for after-hours coverage. Hunt said hiring is constrained by fingerprinting requirements that took effect in an October 1 House bill and by extended preservice training, which she said now lasts about eight weeks instead of three. "So although we've had 8 people ready to come to work, we've had to wait on fingerprinting," Hunt said, and reported five candidates expected to start Dec. 8 once checks clear.
Board members asked about whether non-certified support roles could be used; Hunt said state pre-service certification is required for staff who "touch families," limiting who can perform core social-work duties. The board directed staff to provide more departmental turnover breakdowns, counts of civil-service actions and logs for the Apex Security officer assigned to DSS, and to circulate recruitment proposals (including consideration of sign-on bonuses) for future deliberation.
The comments and reports placed staffing, recruitment and retention at the center of the board’s November meeting.
