HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 13
(By Delegates
Mahan, Eldridge, Ellis, Ennis, Higgins, Hutchins,
Longstreth, Spencer, Ashley, Rowan and Tansill
)
Requesting the Governor develop and present to the Legislature a
plan to implement continued salary scale adjustments for
structured pay increases for Child Protective Service workers
to enable the Department of Health and Human Resources to
recruit and retain qualified individuals in these positions.
Whereas, The State of West Virginia's has a great obligation
and a moral and legal duty to provide for the safety and health of
its most vulnerable citizens, the children of the state. This duty
and obligation sometimes requires intervention into families lives
causing representatives of the state, the Child Protective Service
workers, being charged with the difficult and important task of
working with families in crisis to assist them with services and to
assure other proper actions are taken to provide for the safety and
health of these children; and
Whereas, The Legislature is cognizant that Child Protective
Services Workers are in a position that requires a tremendous
amount of responsibility. To meet the demands placed upon Child Protective Service Workers the State needs to assure that they are
well trained, highly qualified and experienced insuring they are
able to process cases and tend to children's critical needs in the
best possible manner; and
Whereas, Historically the Child Protection Services workers who
undertake these tasks have been subject to a non-competitive wage
scale that is not consonant with the workers importance and
contribution, nor sufficient to prevent losing these workers to
other states and agencies that are willing to adequately compensate
them;
Whereas, In an attempt to make salaries of Child Protective
Service workers in West Virginia competitive with its surrounding
sister states, in the past three years the Legislature has provided
that Child Protective Services workers receive a pay increase; and
Whereas, Even with this pay increase, border counties still
suffer from an inability to recruit and retain qualified workers
due to salary levels that do not remain competitive across state
lines; and
Whereas, Non-border counties are also plagued with a lack of
experienced workers as workers who are hired routinely leave Child
Protective Service work for other positions within the Department
of Health and Human Resources that are more lucrative with less
stress; and
Whereas, A pay scale that is competitive with our border states will encourage individuals to seek employment with Child Protective
Services and see this employment as a career goal not a means to
transition to other functions within the Department of Health and
Human Resources or as a training ground for employment in another
state; and
WHEREAS, The Legislature wants to recognize the important role
that qualified and experienced Child Protective Service Workers
play in our state through a competitive salary package that is
designed to place an appropriate emphasis upon the significant
tasks performed by Child Protective Service Workers in protecting
West Virginia's children; therefore, be it
Resolved, by the Legislature o West Virginia:
That the Governor develop and present to the Legislature a
plan to implement continued salary scale adjustments for the
Department of Health and Human Resources to allow that agency to
pay Child Protective Service Workers sufficient wages to make West
Virginia competitive with its sister states, and provide a greater
incentive for Child Protective Service Workers to remain in these
most important positions.
This resolution was recommended for introduction and passage
by Select Committee A- Committee on Children, Juveniles and Other
Issues during 2007 legislative interims.