February 17, 2023 — New York’s dedicated social workers are burnt out, underpaid, feel unsafe at work, and face skyrocketing caseloads – all while continuing to provide vital care to a patient population that has grown more complex and difficult to serve.
It’s time for change.
That’s the message about 50 PEF social workers conveyed to legislators in Albany on February 14. PEF joined members of the National Association of Social Workers’ New York State chapter on Social Worker Lobby Day to share stories and advocate for solutions.
They called on the State to address pay inequity by title reallocation; review the potential for a geo pay differential; conduct continuous recruitment exams; look at financial aid programs; and form partnerships for training, education, and safety in the workplace.
It was standing room only as PEF members carried their message to Sen. Robert Jackson, a former PEF member and staffer and now chair of the Senate’s Civil Service and Pensions committee.
A PEF member from Creedmoor Psychiatric Center kicked off the session.
“There is chronic understaffing,” she said. “We can’t attract or keep staff. We are dealing with a much harder population and the violence, it’s out of control. We are pushed to push patients out as fast as possible, and they took away the community resources.”
Members shared stories of a faulty pay scale and little opportunity for advancement. Licensed social worker titles begin at grade 18 and can advance to grade 20. Meanwhile, psychologist 2s, who aren’t required to hold a license, start at grade 23.
“We are highly trained,” a social worker at the Office of Mental Health (OMH) said. Sometimes social workers supervise and sign off on paperwork for psychologists (at OMH), yet they are paid less, she said. “It’s demoralizing.”
Many social workers are also saddled with large student loans, sometimes living paycheck to paycheck when half their take-home pay goes toward skyrocketing rents. Coupled with the understaffing and complexity of their patient population, many social workers are burnt out.
One PEF member told Sen. Jackson she has had to consider moving on.
“I have a passion for this,” she said. “But I have to leave what I love to get paid.”
Members also shared with the senator the real impact of understaffing.
“My caseload is 230,” a member said, and because of that, he can only see his patients once every two months. “It impacts the continuity of care.”
Sen. Jackson urged social workers to tell their stories – to write personalized letters, which have more impact than a form letter, and to detail what they face and what they need.
“Keep pushing,” he said.
PEF social workers asked lawmakers they met with to help convey their messages to management of the various State agencies that employ social workers, as well as the Department of Civil Service and the Division of Budget, which would ultimately be responsible for changing the structure of the social work title series. They spent much of the day traversing the halls of the Legislative Office Building and the Capitol building, speaking to representatives who were in their offices and dropping off information for those they missed.
The information packets contained a summary of what PEF learned from a survey in October 2022 that focused on assessing working conditions and job satisfaction among social workers. In the survey, more than 70% of the respondents indicated their work location had at least one vacancy; 85% admitted they have considered leaving state service; and 82% cited workload as the reason they considered leaving.
“It is clear that PEF social workers operate in dangerous environments with chronic vacancies and staff shortages, performing unmanageable workloads with an influx of severely mentally ill and difficult-to-serve individuals who have complex medical and treatment needs,” said PEF President Wayne Spence. “We need our elected officials to do right by our social workers, so they can support New York’s most vulnerable citizens.”
PEF is asking the State to:
- Address salary inequity within the New York State Classification System of this female-dominated profession by reallocating the entire social worker title series upward to be on par with Psychologists based on the comparable duties, responsibilities, and required minimum qualifications of the titles.
- Review the applicability of a Geographic Pay differential for the social worker title series.
- Conduct Civil Service continuous recruitment examinations year-round.
- Form partnerships with State agencies employing social workers (OMH, OPWDD, DOCCS, DOH, OCFS, OASAS, State Education and Worker’s Compensation Board) to provide training and oversight opportunities so they can receive their clinical designation.
- Form partnerships with those same State agencies, plus the Office of Employee Relations, and the Department of Civil Service to provide healthy and safe working environments for employees in a more complex post-COVID-19 workplace. Available pathways include: Joint Health and Safety and Labor-Management committees, project advisory groups, and training and education programs. The goal should be to provide skills training, in addition to allowing for work schedule flexibility, such as remote telehealth options, and overall safer work environments by addressing occupational stress and burnout, and the assignment of manageable caseload sizes.
- Incentivize social workers entering public service with student internships and financial aid.
- addition to allowing for work schedule flexibility, such as remote telehealth options, and overall safer work environments by addressing occupational stress and burnout, and the assignment of manageable caseload sizes.
- Incentivize social workers entering public service with student internships and financial aid.
Read the full survey report here.
