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Battle to end short staffing, mandatory overtime forges ahead at Senate hearing

STORY AND PHOTOS By DEBORAH A. MILES
Short staffing is the biggest challenge facing state services to the mentally ill and other New Yorkers with complex needs.

That’s the message PEF told lawmakers in October at a state Senate hearing in Albany that was held to address workforce issues for those serving children and individuals with disabilities in residential facilities.

State Senators George Maziarz, Thomas P. Morahan, and Carl Kruger held the hearing to review issues such as staffing, overtime, recruitment and retention before the next legislative session begins in January.

PEF Vice President Pat Baker, who testified, said the main challenge facing the state Office of Mental Health (OMH) workforce is short staffing.

“It leads to an unsafe work environment for employees and can have tragic consequences.” Baker said.
“Research proves nurses who work overtime because of staffing issues are much more likely to make medical errors.

“We don’t want to hear about tragic incidents such as the developmental aide who was convicted of manslaughter in the death of Jonathan Carey because he worked a string of double shifts before causing the young boy’s death from a restraint.

While the aide was not a PEF member, many of our members experience the same overtime issues.
“We ask you to support bills that will require proper staffing and the Mandatory Overtime legislation to help tragedies like this come to an end,” Baker said.

Understaffing at OCFS
“PEF has repeatedly sounded the alarm about the dangers of understaffing in our facilities,” said Paula Hennessy, PEF Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) labor-management chair.

She spoke about the complexity of youth needs and the importance of correctly identifying whether a problem is a conduct disorder or more serious such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.

“There is a particular need for specialized training for staff working with youth who are mentally ill, substance abusers and sexual offenders,” Hennessy said.

“Currently, there is no statewide or industry-wide standard or certification for voluntary agency direct-care workers, other than licensed social workers. There are no uniform educational or training requirements. There is no uniform pay scale.”

Enhanced staffing in demand
Patricia Smith, PEF labor-management chair at the state Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD), echoed the need for more specialized staffing.

“OMRDD has difficulty hiring psychologists and occupational, physical and speech therapists whose services are important to meet the needs of the complex consumer population,” Smith said.

“We have found that behaviorally complex consumers have greatest success in specialized residences that have enhanced staffing,” she said.

Smith asked the senators to support enhanced staffing, training resources and to end mandatory overtime.

“We are hopeful this discussion will have an impact when the Legislature reconvenes in January,” Baker said. “The battle to end mandatory overtime and convince the state to add staffing has been a long one. We hope 2008 will be the year decision makers do the right thing to ensure quality care for all New Yorkers, and especially these children and individuals with disabilities.”