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New Jersey Department of Human Services
Press Release
Davy announces emergency hiring of 158 new DYFS staff
April 5, 2004, Trenton -- Department of Human Services (DHS) Acting Commissioner Jim Davy announced today the emergency hiring of 158 new staff for the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) to help ease the burden of heavy caseloads.
As part of the hiring initiative, 72 frontline caseworkers will be added as well as eight supervisors and 78 case aides to assist caseworkers. The $2.8 million cost is part of a $7 million budget transfer the Department received last week to begin the process of reforming the State's child welfare system.
"When meeting with DYFS staff the past few weeks, I have received nothing but positive feedback on our reform efforts and assurances we truly are moving in the right direction," said Acting Commissioner Davy. "However, time and time again I have heard a common complaint- caseloads are too high and our staff needs immediate relief."
Earlier this year, DYFS initiated a case closing project with managers and supervisors working overtime to close cases no longer needing attention. Though 11,823 cases have been closed, the same number of cases have been opened during the same time period, limiting the Division's ability to make a serious dent in its caseload of 65,000.
In addition to the emergency hiring initiative, Davy also announced $1.4 million will be spent to help children with behavioral health issues. Many children are languishing in county detention centers and other institutional settings because there is no where else for them to go.
Mobile crisis response will be expanded into Middlesex, Mercer and Passaic counties and 28 treatment beds (eight emergency and 20 non-emergency) will be added to serve children with behavioral health issues in local communities. According to Davy, intensive behavioral assistance services will be expanded so an additional 326 families can be served.
The remainder of the $7 million supplemental will be used to continue DYFS' ongoing safety assessment project of children in foster care, provide medical examinations for children in placement and eliminate the problem of children spending hours in local DYFS' offices waiting for a place to go. Staff will also be added to the DHS Office of Children's Services so the reform plan can continue to move forward.
"We are able to get a lot done with only the $7 million," added Davy. "I will continue to push for the additional $8 million so we can expand services even further - especially for children with behavioral health issues."
With the additional funding, Davy would spend $4.8 million to add 86 youth case mangers to coordinate services for children, add an additional 67 treatment beds (bringing the total to 95 beds) and expand intensive behavioral assistance services to over 1,000 families (instead of only 326).
| Region/Office |
Caseload
(children) |
Current # of Caseworkers |
New Caseworkers |
New Supervisors |
New Aides |
Total
New Staff |
| Adoption Operations |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ARC Central |
569 |
39 |
|
|
2 |
2 |
| ARC Essex |
649 |
39 |
|
|
2 |
2 |
| ARC Metro |
639 |
40 |
|
|
2 |
2 |
| ARC Metro-Select |
473 |
30 |
|
|
2 |
2 |
| ARC North |
699 |
35 |
|
|
2 |
2 |
| ARC South |
981 |
55 |
|
|
3 |
3 |
| Totals |
4,010 |
238 |
- |
- |
13 |
13 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Central Region |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Mercer |
2,568 |
66 |
2 |
|
3 |
5 |
| Ocean |
2,646 |
61 |
5 |
|
3 |
8
| So. Monmouth |
1,473 |
42 |
2 |
|
2 |
4 |
| No. Monmouth |
1,398 |
53 |
|
|
2 |
2 |
| Somerset |
889 |
30 |
|
|
2 |
2 |
| Hunterdon |
426 |
12 |
|
|
1 |
1 |
| Region Totals |
9,400 |
264 |
9 |
- |
13 |
22 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Metro Region |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Edison |
1,843 |
41 |
2 |
|
2 |
4 |
| Perth Amboy |
3,039 |
48 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
| East Orange |
2,258 |
43 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
| Bloomfield |
2,278 |
43 |
2 |
|
2 |
4 |
| Newark I |
2,030 |
47 |
2 |
|
2 |
4 |
| Newark II |
2,552 |
54 |
2 |
|
2 |
4 |
| Newark III |
1,880 |
51 |
|
|
3 |
3 |
| Union East |
2,637 |
50 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
| Union West |
1,661 |
38 |
2 |
|
2 |
4 |
| Region Totals |
20,178 |
415 |
22 |
3 |
19 |
44 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Northern Region |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Bayonne |
2,006 |
55 |
2 |
|
2 |
4 |
| Bergen |
2,895 |
60 |
5 |
|
2 |
7 |
| Jersey City |
1,230 |
37 |
1 |
|
3 |
4 |
| No. Hudson |
1,790 |
39 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
| Morris |
1,693 |
37 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
| Central Passaic |
2,016 |
53 |
1 |
|
3 |
4 |
| Sussex |
794 |
19 |
2 |
|
2 |
4 |
| Warren |
653 |
17 |
|
|
1 |
1 |
| Northern Passaic |
883 |
39 |
|
|
2 |
2 |
| Region Totals |
13,960 |
356 |
19 |
2 |
18 |
39 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Southern Region |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Atlantic |
2,000 |
54 |
3 |
|
2 |
5 |
| Burlington |
2,539 |
59 |
2 |
|
3 |
5 |
| Camden Central |
3,831 |
81 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
| Camden North |
2,861 |
66 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
| Cape May |
890 |
30 |
2 |
|
2 |
4 |
| Cumberland |
2,251 |
51 |
2 |
|
2 |
4 |
| Gloucester |
2,009 |
38 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
| Salem |
960 |
23 |
1 |
|
2 |
3 |
| Region Totals |
17,341 |
402 |
22 |
3 |
15 |
40 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| D.O./Region totals |
60,879 |
1,437 |
72 |
8 |
65 |
145 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Grand Totals
(Including ARCs) |
64,889 |
1,675 |
72 |
8 |
78 |
158 |
|
NOTE: Current staff/caseload numbers do not include the Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit.
Current staffing numbers also do not include 26 regional/permanency caseworker positions.
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