Community Services doesn't know how many cases its social workers are juggling

Officials with the Department of Community Services do not have an accurate picture of the caseloads carried by social workers in Nova Scotia.

The revelation came during a meeting of the legislature's public accounts committee on Wednesday.

Shelley Bent James, executive director of service delivery for the department, told MLAs on the committee that the average number of cases per social worker is 22.75, but that it is "not the true, accurate count of children and family that social workers are working with."

That's because the count includes current cases and those that have been completed. Due to the administrative burden social workers face, they are sometimes unable to close completed files, said Bent James. Even with that consideration, there have been longstanding concerns about how many people are assigned to individual social workers. 

She told reporters after the meeting that the department is trying to get a better system in place that would allow for more accurate figures. Part of that effort has included a pilot project that pairs paraprofessionals with understaffed offices to help take paperwork off the hands of social workers.

Alec Stratford, the registrar of the Nova Scotia College of Social Workers, said he's been surprised by the department's lack of accurate data about caseloads for all of the eight years he's been in his role.

Although some parts of the province have better tracking than others, Stratford told reporters that the lack of accurate data prevents effective planning and resource allocation.

"All of it matters in terms of the quality of care to the most vulnerable in our society," he said.

Stratford attended the committee meeting, which focused on a recent auditor general's report examining the heath, safety and wellbeing of children in the care of the province. Progressive Conservative MLAs used their majority on the committee to block an NDP motion that would have included Stratford as a witness.

The college's recommendation is for the province to adopt caseload ratios based on the Child Welfare League of America standard, which calls for 16-20 cases. Even those numbers are outdated, said Stratford, but it would give the department a line in the sand while it conducts an independent case review.

Challenges in retaining social workers

Stratford said workload and a lack of feeling valued are contributing to challenges with recruiting and retaining social workers in the province.

"You can have one family that you're working with [and] that's your next two weeks. And so your other families are not getting the care they need because you have a family that's in crisis at that moment in time and that's where your attention is going."

According to the Community Services Department, the salary range for the role is $56,518 to $87,487. Bent James said social workers in Nova Scotia are paid at the low end of the scale nationally when they're starting out, although they reach the higher end of the scale once they have five to 10 years experience.

Information about caseloads wasn't the only detail department officials were unable to provide on Wednesday.

Child and youth office still to come

Despite a bill introduced and passed during the spring sitting of the legislature to create a child and youth office, officials could not provide an update on that effort, either.

No details are available about when the child and youth commissioner will be appointed, when the office will begin operating or whether it will be answerable to government or stand as an independent entity.

Although Community Services Minister Brendan Maguire said in March that his goal is to have the office up and running by the end of the year, Stratford said that seems unlikely if the department still has no details about a budget or mandate for the office.

Opposition criticisms

Liberal MLA Braedon Clark said getting the office in place is critical to ensuring the kinds of gaps in information and oversight identified by the auditor general do not persist.

The lack of information from the department is made more concerning by the fact that it pertains to kids in the care of the province, he said.

"There's no group of people in Nova Scotia who are more vulnerable or need more help," he told reporters. "And so the standard should be as high as possible." 

New Democrat MLA Susan Leblanc said the lack of details from the department is disappointing, particularly because the Tories were calling for a child and youth advocate even before they formed government in 2021.