Growth model series causing loss of family services workers, says AUPE

By ANNA SMITH Local Journalism Initiative on July 19, 2024.

asmith@medicinehatnews.com

The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees is expressing concern regarding a hiring practice which puts unnecessary strain on workers who look out for the province’s younger residents.

This model was put into practice by the province, called the Growth Model Series, as intended to improve recruitment and retention in the Children and Family Services, particularly Child Intervention Practitioners.

These workers investigate and assess reports of children in potentially dangerous situations, said AUPE, and any delays in doing this work put children at increased risk.

“There’s a drastic shortage of Child Intervention Practitioners because the government changed the way it hired people to do this vital work,” said Curtis Jackson, vice-president of AUPE for the southern region of the province. “Four years ago, there was a staff of more than 45 in Medicine Hat, including seven teams of five or six practitioners, plus supervisors and intake workers. There are now only 18 staff.”

The story is similar across the province, said Sandra Azocar, AUPE vice-president for the northern region of Alberta.

While this program was intended to ease the workload of these critical workers, it’s done the opposite, said Jackson.

“Workloads have increased so much that staff are quitting in droves or are being forced to take time off sick. Five veterans have left the department in Medicine Hat in the last few months,” said Jackson.

Instead of hiring people to become Child Intervention Practitioners with a bachelor’s degree in social work or a relevant field, the government is hiring people at a lower classification, needing certificates that require only 10 months of education, said AUPE.

“The government claimed this change in hiring was to address recruitment and retention issues,” said Jackson. “Had they consulted the front-line workers, we would have told them that lowering standards and qualifications would fail. The real solution starts with a positive workplace culture, fair and competitive wages and increased mental-health supports.”

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