Community Services, MHDS region in need of additional staffing hours

     Lucia Herman, Jones County Community Services director, met with the board of supervisors during their Feb. 28 meeting to request an amendment to her budget concerning staffing.

   Herman said during the MHDS (mental health disabilities services) regional meeting the week prior, the regional CEO has identified the need for additional hours. Herman said not only does the region need more staffing hours, but Community Services, a county agency, does as well.

   “I understand you declined the adjustment in hours on the county side,” Herman addressed the board. “I’d like to revisit that.”

   Herman said she would like to make her administrative assistant, Abby Rosencrans, full-time, working 20 hours for the county and 20 hours for the region.

   “There have been a lot of legislative changes,” she said of new laws impacting mental health. “The Legislature is handing down more work. We need the hours on the region side. I’m drowning.”

   Herman reminded the supervisors that Community Services is a county entity, a county business.

   “We’ve always been a full-time business,” she said. “It got cloudy with the region, but we’re covering it.”

   Herman said what she really needs is a full-time assistant director, dedicating time to the citizens of Jones County.

   “Some counties have an assistant, office help, and a county social worker. We’re using my regional staff because there is a lot of overlap.”

   She said, at the minimum, she needs someone to answer the phones, check emails, work with the public who walk in, and handle committals.

   “Abby can work with folks with my oversight,” Herman said.

   Herman said she is, and always has been, conscientious of the county budget and the best way to utilize the funds.

   She asked the board to consider making Rosencrans’ position full-time, working 50/50 for the MHDS region and the county.

   “It helps me, but it still doesn’t fix the Community Services side,” Herman said.

   With the change in hours, the county would cover Rosencrans’ benefits to the tune of $9,265.

   “We still need to increase hours here (within Community Services),” she added. “I can try to hire part-time, but it’s more than just answering the phones. It’s claims, client applications. This is a band-aid for now.”

   Herman said she’d like to come back to the board at a later date to discuss the needs within Community Services.

   Supervisor Ned Rohwedder, who sits on the regional governing board, also recognized that putting Rosencrans at 50/50 doesn’t fix things long-term.

   “We had another full-time person in the past,” he told the board.

   The board approved making Rosencrans’ position full-time, splitting her time between Community Services and the region. Supervisor John Schlarmann was opposed.

   As for his reasoning in voting “no,” Schlarmann offered, “We had 25 people in here last week (complaining about the roads). We have a problem. I haven’t heard that we’re having an issue (with Community Services) other than today. I’ll take your word for it.”

   “We have to do something for the county,” said Supervisor Jon Zirkelbach.

   With two regional social workers in her office, Herman said she also needs a social worker dedicated to the county side.

   Supervisor Joe Oswald asked if the hours for one of the regional social workers could be increased to address the county’s needs.

   “The duties required on the county side, the work level, are not the same,” Herman said. “It’s a whole different pay scale.

   “But we have people on waiting lists,” continued Herman. “We’re a point of reference in the county. We need a county social worker back to do the higher-level things.”

   Herman asked when she could revisit the staffing hours with the board. They told her to wait until the next budget season before she requests additional staff.

   “We know there is a need,” said Rohwedder. “But we’ll address it at the next budget season with a list of duties requested prior to the budget.”