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McFarland Mental Health Center workers warn of “severe staff shortage”

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Illinois

* Press release…

McFarland Mental Health Center employees to demonstrate over lack of staff

WHO: Frontline employees of McFarland Mental Health Center represented by INA and AFSCME

WHAT: Informational picket to raise awareness of severe staff shortage

WHERE: Outside McFarland Mental Health Center, 901 Southwind Dr.,

Springfield, IL 62703

WHEN: TODAY (Wednesday, November 16 at 2:30 p.m.

BACKGROUND: Frontline employees who support individuals with mental illness at McFarland Mental Health Center in Springfield, Ill., are raising awareness of a severe staff shortage at the state-operated facility and throughout state government.

Members of the Illinois Nurses Association (INA) and the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 31 will hold an informational picket outside McFarland Mental Health Center today, November 16th at 2:30 p.m.

AFSCME and INA members say the lack of staff threatens to erode the quality of care for patients at McFarland, poses a safety risk to employees, and is driving out-of-control overtime—including mandatory overtime—that is leading to burnout among workers.

According to INA, there are 49 nurses who work at the Center but there are seven nursing positions open. Meanwhile, 22 of the 98 Security Therapy Aide and Mental Health Technician positions, represented by AFSCME, are also unfilled. Both unions are calling on the State to host a job fair and aggressively recruit to fill these vacancies. Nurses have also told management they want the option of working 12.5-hour shifts to reduce burnout and not being mandated to work overtime. Center management has failed to implement a negotiated agreement on these key issues, according to INA.

Representing registered nurses employed by the state of Illinois, the INA stands for nurses’ rights to be the best advocates for their patients and their communities.

AFSCME Council 31 is the largest union of public service workers in Illinois—with a membership that includes more than 30,000 state employees—and a leading voice for working families statewide.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Nov 16, 22 @ 8:48 am

Comments

This doesn’t seem like a very presidential problem for a Governor to have.

Comment by Candy Dogood Wednesday, Nov 16, 22 @ 8:56 am
The state has to do something to get staffing up in places like this and Madden. Is there any way they can pay a largish one time bonus in exchange for a contract stipulating a duration of time agreed to without violating any contracts or lanes?

Comment by cermak_rd Wednesday, Nov 16, 22 @ 9:21 am
It is very hard work and not just anybody off the street can do it. Good night to whoever is in charge of hiring for those jobs. I don’t envy you.

Comment by Cheswick Wednesday, Nov 16, 22 @ 9:24 am
Good luck. Not good night. I have no idea where that came from. Sorry.

Comment by Cheswick Wednesday, Nov 16, 22 @ 9:25 am
Staff shortages in the behavioral health field are happening at every level, from state op to community MH and addiction treatment centers.

This is beyond needing a few more staff, the various trade organizations for the mental health and addition treatment fields have been warning the system can’t continue to provide treatment without an influx of new staff.

No one has the answer. As Cheswick said, it’s hard work that requires training and the ability to work in high stress conditions.

Comment by Give Me A Break Wednesday, Nov 16, 22 @ 9:35 am
Give Me A Break is spot on that there are shortages in the MH field everywhere you look. But getting qualified staff at MHCs in Illinois has long been a problem.

Short term - Hold the job fairs and recruit more staff. Maybe even work with the union to re-write some job descriptions so that you might get a larger pool of applicants.

Long Term - Work with the community colleges and universities in the State to build that pool by offering tuition breaks/grants to students if they will go into the MH field. Maybe even free tuition if they work at a State MH facility for 5 years.

Comment by One Trick Pony Wednesday, Nov 16, 22 @ 9:56 am
This is happening in all BH/IDD programs, state operated and non-profit, statewide. The state has not kept up with rising wage rates. The solution is more money. Finding people who want to work in 24-hour settings, often providing personal care, dealing with elopement, emotional issues, and sometimes violence is harder than ever. With wages rising in basic retail and light manufacturing jobs, there are easier ways to make money these days.

Comment by 100 miles west Wednesday, Nov 16, 22 @ 10:00 am
How much of the Security Therapy Aide (STA) shortage is due to the “unique” interaction of CMS rules and the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with AFSCME? The STA series has Trainee and I, II, III, and IV levels.

Generally under the CBA, if someone in levels I - IV leaves, after dealing with lateral transfers, the position would be filled using the Promotional List. Effectively, all this does is create a vacancy 1 rung down. If the person who left was STA IV, to fill that headcount reduction requires upwards of 5 hiring processes. This has previously been cited as a problem at DCFS.

Comment by Anyone Remember Wednesday, Nov 16, 22 @ 11:21 am
Who in their right mind wants to work for the state or any other public entity?

While they might be a minority, a very vocal and aggressive segment of our society hates us and wants to see our income diminished. They are vocally supported by the ilgop.

If I wasn’t so close to retirement I would make a change.

These are the chickens coming home to roost and it is hurting people unfortunately.

Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, Nov 16, 22 @ 1:25 pm
===How much of the Security Therapy Aide (STA) shortage is due to the “unique” interaction of CMS rules and the Collective Bargaining Agreement===

I’m not sure that it’s a very good position for the person who is in charge of the government to take the position that the government is the reason why they can’t properly run/staff the government — unless they have a specific plan to address this.

If that’s the cause of the problem, competent management should have been able to address it since all of those rules are known and can be changed either through rule making or negotiations.

Comment by Candy Dogood Wednesday, Nov 16, 22 @ 2:34 pm
The hiring system in Illinois is a disaster. Under the CMS hiring system it can take months to get hired, and Anyone Remembers is correct. It is a mess, and the Governor knows it, but continues to tell AFSCME and others that we just have to wait and “it will get better”. It’s been almost two years since he initiated the new hiring system. It has NOT gotten better; only worse.

Comment by Grateful Gail Wednesday, Nov 16, 22 @ 3:01 pm
Gail is 100% spot on. It is shameful that our Governor has done nothing but made it worse for state hiring. It was already bad under Rauner. Now it is a legitimate crisis everywhere.

And he can only brag about a 1 billion dollar rainy day fund. Well, those funds came from staffing shortages. Every mom and dad who got mandated, every kid who didn’t get adequate care, and every single patient who didn’t receive quality care paid for that 1 billion dollar rainy day fund.

Yes, I know revenues were higher than projected, but a good chunk of it came from asking employees to do a lot more with a lot less…and that has terrible consequences.

Comment by MG85 Wednesday, Nov 16, 22 @ 3:56 pm
“a very vocal and aggressive segment of our society hates us and wants to see our income diminished. They are vocally supported by the ilgop. *** These are the chickens coming home to roost and it is hurting people ̶u̶n̶f̶o̶r̶t̶u̶n̶a̶t̶e̶l̶y̶ strategically.”

Cruelty is the point.

– MrJM

Comment by MisterJayEm Wednesday, Nov 16, 22 @ 4:55 pm
Reading the above, and being mindful of events at DCFS, Veterans, Unemployment, etc. anything from the folks yesterday who were pushing the + $ Billions Rainy Day priority?

Comment by Joe Wednesday, Nov 16, 22 @ 8:40 pm
Grateful Gail - Thank you!

Candy Dogood - Anecdotally, the CMS and AFSCME came up with this to thwart Veteran’s Preference.

Comment by Anyone Remember Wednesday, Nov 16, 22 @ 9:12 pm