x
Breaking News
More () »

Children and Youth Agency Works to Attract Caseworkers

WILKES-BARRE — Luzerne County Children and Youth still has about two dozen positions to fill six months after the state downgraded its license. County lea...
luz children and youth

WILKES-BARRE — Luzerne County Children and Youth still has about two dozen positions to fill six months after the state downgraded its license.

County leaders held a job fair Thursday to try turn that around.

The Human Resources Job Fair at the Luzerne County Courthouse attracted dozens of people trying to land the perfect gig.

Among them was Jarvis Wright of Wilkes-Barre.

“It’s just an amazing field to work in,” Wright said.

His resume includes 10 years of working with kids as a counselor. Now he wants to be a caseworker at Luzerne County Children and Youth.

“Instead of being always at the tail end of working with children, I’d like to get in the forefront to try to help.”

Luzerne County Children and Youth is down 25 people, 15 of them caseworkers.  Last year, Luzerne County leaders blamed staffing shortages after the state downgraded its license.

County leaders say recruitment at the agency has been difficult for years because the state’s hiring process is too slow.   Caseworkers have to pass a state civil service test. It takes about two weeks to get the results back. So State Representative Tara Toohil wants to eliminate the test to speed up the hiring process.

“Being a social worker is a very in depth job. They’re highly educated people that go into those jobs and they don’t necessarily need to take a test,” said Rep. Tara Toohil, (R) Luzerne County.

But people applying to be caseworkers for Luzerne County Children and Youth are not going to let the agency’s downgrade discourage them from the position.

“I feel if you get good people in there and they’re really doing their due diligence and working hard, I feel like it could really be amazing,” said Wright.

County leaders say their focus now is on hiring a full staff of people at Children and Youth. Then they’ll focus on retaining them and upgrading the agency’s license.

Before You Leave, Check This Out