The head of Missouri's Children's Division is seeking to create a "professional path" that leads to employees who investigate child abuse and neglect staying at the agency longer.
That involves having investigators take on more specialized roles, including ones that could pay them more money.
"We hear a lot from team members that are still boots on the ground with us, and team members that have unfortunately left because the job is too much … they're not getting the right professional path," Department of Social Services Children's Division Director Sara Smith said on "The Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air."
"They're out on potentially an investigation just coming out of training," Smith said. "And we need to make sure that we're equipping them to be able to handle those investigations."
For years the Children's Division has struggled to recruit and retain employees who look into accusations of child abuse and neglect. Agency officials have pointed to staffing issues for huge backlogs of unfinished cases, such as at the St. Louis branch earlier in the decade.
Smith said one of the issues that investigators encounter is overwork. Before the reorganization, employees pursued investigations with law enforcement into abuse or neglect and assessments, which often involved steering families toward state services. Under the new plan, Smith said that investigators will only do investigations or assessments.
"We're rolling out several specialized teams that team members statewide are filling out surveys for where they feel that they are most applicable to fit in and do the work," Smith said.
For instance, someone who has more experience could screen newborns who are potentially in crisis or looking into sexual abuse allegations. The goal, she said, is to have people who have more experience looking into suspected abuse or neglect helping newer employees navigate challenging cases.
"We owe it to children and families to make sure that our most seasoned team members are the ones that are responding to our most complex cases," Smith said.
Some of the specialized roles, Smith said, come with salary increases – which she said could incentivize people to stay at the division longer. Retaining employees for the demanding job has proven difficult, especially since the starting salary in the mid-$40,000 range is much lower than other states or private-sector opportunities offer.
"If they're working on a team that is either the out-of-home investigations team or the critical investigations team, they'll also receive an additional bump there," said Smith, referring to teams that look into matters such as child fatalities and abuse at places like day cares or group homes.
Smith said she's hoping to eventually have pay increases available for other specialized teams – both in the child investigation space and in other areas.
Is it sustainable?
Smith is making the change as Missouri is headed into more difficult budgetary times. The state's surplus is expected to run out soon, and state Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick says that lawmakers may have to make significant cuts in the near future.
But Smith said her plan to reorganize and pay some investigators more money should be able to withstand leaner financial times.
"We're doing this all within our own resources that we have now with lateral positions and within our statutory framework," Smith said. "So I think that this would be sustainable moving forward."
She said the plan has received somewhat of a mixed assessment among employees, with some excited to pursue more specialized roles while others are reserving judgment until they know what their role will be within the agency.
"I think they'll feel more assured when they know their team and their supervisor," Smith said. "So once they have those specific coverage areas and supervisor, I think those are the main things that they want to know, and I want to make sure that they're able to have that as soon as possible."
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