44TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 1999

REQUESTING A STUDY BY THE CHILDREN, YOUTH AND FAMILIES DEPARTMENT ON THE PAY SCALE OF ITS SOCIAL WORKERS AND THE ADVISABILITY OF EMPLOYING ADDITIONAL CLERICAL STAFF TO PERMIT MORE TIME FOR SOCIAL WORK COUNSELING.

WHEREAS, the responsibilities of social workers in the children, youth and families department are especially valuable and needed by their very vulnerable client population; and

WHEREAS, social work is the most important part of the state's services to many of these clients; and

WHEREAS, unlike many state employees who deal directly with the public, social workers must, once the client contact is over, repeat the experience by filling out forms about that contact in response to the myriad demands of both state and federal bureaucracies; and

WHEREAS, certain private agencies involved in child welfare efforts are currently using their own resources to assist department social workers by collating and distributing materials needed by other state agencies; and

WHEREAS, hiring of additional clerical personnel for the specific reason to assist social workers with required paperwork would accomplish the very desirable goal of permitting those licensed professionals to provide desperately needed counseling rather than filling out bureaucratic forms; and

WHEREAS, these same social workers are paid less than those employed by the five states contiguous to New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, if the state expects to resolve some of its social and human needs problems through the services of hired professionals, it must pay them a living wage comparable to their peers across the country;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the children, youth and families department examine the work loads and pay scale of its social workers and report its findings and recommendations to the interim legislative health and human services committee by September 1, 1999.