Lycoming County 911 director: center is 11 positions short; hiring drive aims to rebuild staff

Forest, director of the Lycoming County Department of Public Safety, told the Board of Commissioners during the public meeting that the county's consolidated 911 communications center is authorized for 18 personnel but is currently "down 11 positions." He described an active recruitment campaign across the county website, job boards, local colleges and referral networks and said the county will report results to the board as hiring progresses.

"The first voice they hear when someone in my county picks up the phone and dials 911 in a crisis — the first human voice they hear — belongs to our team members," Forest said, framing recruitment as a public-safety priority rather than an administrative task.

Forest gave a realistic timetable for rebuilding capacity: active screening and interviews over the next 60 days, conditional offers and background and medical checks in a 60-to-120-day window, and then national telecommunicator training and certification that can take four to six months. He added that a new hire typically requires six to 12 months on the job before achieving full operational proficiency.

That timeline, commissioners and former dispatch staff warned, means a months-long risk window for the county. James Alfleger II, a retired dispatcher and volunteer fire chief, said the current shortfall "creates a public-safety disaster" during surge periods such as thunderstorms and urged the county to consider interim measures.

Forest acknowledged short-term gaps are a problem and said the county is evaluating two proposals for temporary staffing solutions but cautioned that Pennsylvania law requires local certification for out-of-state or traveling dispatchers. "By Pennsylvania statute, they have to go through local certification, local training," he said, and such contracted services can be four to 10 times more costly than internal hires and still require weeks to months of onboarding.

Former dispatch staff, including long-serving operator Beth Baylor Hutchkins, urged commissioners to place more commissioners and county leaders in the communications center to understand daily realities. Hutchkins described the job's multitasking demands and the necessity of one-on-one console training, which limits cohort size and slows large-scale hiring.

Board members said they would pursue multiple tactics at once: expand recruitment advertising, work with HR to target candidates who understand the job's demands, and consider whether limited observation as part of the interview process could be framed to comply with labor law. Commissioners also said they will continue to press for retention measures, including reconsidering earlier-stated bonus commitments to recent hires.

Forest closed by pledging transparency: "If we have wins, you will know. If we hit walls, you will know," and repeated the target of returning the center to its authorized, fully trained complement of 18 staff. The board did not take a formal vote on policy changes during the meeting; commissioners instructed staff to pursue recruitment, evaluate short-term proposals and return with updates.

Ending: The board scheduled no specific final decision date but asked DPS to report hiring progress to future meetings; public commenters and commissioners urged accelerated interim steps during the summer storm season.