CHILDREN's SOCIAL WORKER LOAN REPAYMENT BILL (SB 6259)
2/7/18 SSB 6259, the social worker student loan repayment bill, did not come up for a vote of the Senate Ways and Means Committee.
Social worker loan repayment bill needed to address “epidemic” turnover
2/2/18 AFSCME Council 28 (WFSE) priority bill to help Children’s Administration social workers repay their college debt is an innovative way to address the recruitment and retention crisis there.
That’s what the bill’s sponsor and Federation members told the Senate Ways and Means Committee Thursday night (Feb. 1) on SSB 6259.
“The Children’s Administration social worker turnover is at an epidemic,” said Joyce Murphy, a social services supervisor in Vancouver and member of Local 313.
Murphy and other social workers care for abused, neglected and at-risk children. They see things every day none of us can even imagine. But they work years to get the master’s degrees to take on this valuable public service. Yet lagging pay, high caseloads and student debt often take their toll. Many move on.
It doesn’t have to be that way, said Sen. Kevin Ranker of the 40th Dist.
“The bill recognizes that we need to keep these incredible employees who are doing absolutely critical work,” Ranker told the committee.
The social worker student loan repayment bill would help to do what Ranker envisions, said Nolan Manion, a social worker with the Children’s office in Kent and a member of Local 843.
SSB 6259 would “incentivize state workers to persevere through these exertions and to encourage the next generation to pursue careers in social work,” Manion said.
SSB 6259 must clear the Senate Ways and Means Committee by Tuesday (Feb. 6).
Social worker student loan repayment bill clears major hurdle in Senate
1/26/18 The Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee on Thursday (Jan. 25) passed our priority bill to help state Children’s Administration social workers repay their college loans. The committee passed out a substitute bill with pilot program language. Today (Jan. 26), SSB 6259 with the pilot program language was referred to the Senate Ways and Means Committee where it has until Feb. 6 to pass. Contact Sean Dannen at [email protected] with any ideas for actions we can take is support of SSB 6259. Looking ahead: Feb. 8 is Children’s Lobby Day. RSVP HERE.
GOOD CHILDREN's SOCIAL WORKER LOAN REPAYMENT BILL INTRODUCED, SET FOR SENATE HEARING (6259)
The good bill to create a social work professional loan repayment program was introduced today and has already been set for a public hearing.
1/23/18 The Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee on Tuesday (Jan. 23) did not vote on our priority bill (SB 6259) that would create the social work professional loan repayment program. The committee wants to evaluate the fiscal note before taking a vote. We’ll keep you posted.
BILL WOULD HELP RELIEVE CHILDREN’S SOCIAL WORKERS OF STUDENT DEBT
HOTLINE 1/18/18 On the airwaves and in the halls of the Legislature, WFSE/AFSCME social worker members beat the drum for a program to help these dedicated workers pay off the crushing student loan debt they took on to get the specialized degrees.
The bottom line is a life dedicated to helping abused and neglected children shouldn’t leave social workers in debt.
Local 1221 member Sandy Hilzendeger told the Washington News Service in a radio interview carried by stations across the state today that help with their student debt would entice more young people into the social work field and keep good state social workers from leaving. The annual turnover rate is more than 20 percent.
“Whether they put food on the table for their families, they have that little bit of extra to spend on their own kids,” she said. “For the newer folks, it is a much larger burden for them.”
In Olympia, Local 843 CA Social Workers Charles Loeffler, Nolan Manion and Jeremy Streck urged lawmakers in the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee to support recruitment and retention of CA social workers by passing SB 6259, the bill that would create the social work professional loan repayment program. Read their moving testimony at: https://wfse.org/news/ca-sws-voice-support-sb-6259
And to show their appreciation to the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Kevin Ranker of the 40th Dist., the three social workers presented him with a huge thank you card signed by a slew of their colleagues.
The committee is scheduled to vote on SB 6259 next Tuesday, Jan. 23.
WFSE priority bill SB 6259, to support recruitment and retention of CA Social Workers, creates a student loan repayment program.
"Annual turnover statewide for child welfare workers was over 20 percent (in 2016), with some regions experiencing turnover as high as 30 percent. Contributing factors to high turnover include low wages, high caseloads, and low morale."
Local 843 members appeared before the Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee to urge the Senate to pass SB 6259.