Nearly 100 vacant social work positions in N.L.'s Children and Seniors Department, documents show

There are 99 vacant social work positions in Newfoundland and Labrador's Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development, according to documents released via an access-to-information request earlier this month.

As of July, there were 16 unfilled positions in Labrador with the remaining 83 positions in Newfoundland.

It's an issue the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees has been sounding the alarm over for years, and president Jerry Earle says the lack of social workers has now reached crisis levels.

"Knowing today that we've actually doubled on the CSSD side — the number of vacancies — that certainly exacerbates the concern that we had," Earle told CBC News in a recent interview.

He said the number of vacant positions has doubled in just three years.

"Those that remain are carrying a greater caseload now. So [it's] extremely concerning when we're hearing what's happened in our province in a number of areas."

If the issue isn't solved, Earle said, it could have tragic results.

"It's most unfortunate. It's not until we reach a crisis mode that things seem to really get the attention that's necessary. And I keep saying, 'We told you so.'"

According to NAPE, there are about 371 social workers in CCSD — 136 in the eastern and metro St. John's region, 167 in western and central Newfoundland, and 68 in Labrador.

That means more than 20 per cent of the department's social work positions are vacant.

Compounding problems

An external review carried out a few years ago found that a social worker had to work 52 hours a week to manage their typical caseload of 20 files. That's already a hefty workload most find unmanageable, explained Earle.

Given the 99 vacancies, that means one social worker could end up carrying as many as 60 cases, he said. The growing number of vacancies is then compounded by recruitment and retention issues, he added.

"Social workers come in, they realize they're not respected and valued and that's a key piece. They're not. And then they say, 'I just can't do this work because the expectation that's up on me. I can't do it,'" said Earle.

As a result, social workers leave their jobs, he said — some go to other government agencies or outside organizations, and some leave the province entirely.

Memorial University's school of social work isn't producing enough graduates for the province's needs, Earle added, and there are gaps in recruitment efforts.

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Earle said compounding the issue is the revolving door of ministers at the Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development. There have been four politicians  — Lisa Dempster, Brian Warr, John Abbott and now Paul Pike  — to head the department in the last three years.

That makes it difficult to engage with ministers because they're in that portfolio for a short amount of time, he said.

CBC News asked for an interview with Pike but was instead sent a statement from the department.

To fill the vacancies, says the statement, CSSD has brought in what it described as a number of policies, including signing and retention bonuses, housing allowances, alternate work schedules. The statement says the department has also brought in field placements for students from Memorial University and other Canadian universities.

"The department continues to actively work to address these vacancies and has hired a dedicated human resource strategist to develop additional recruitment and retention strategies," the statement concluded.

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