NY. As violence and dangerous conditions increase at OCFS’ Juvenile Facilities so does staff’s overtime

Current OCFS Commissioner Gladys Carrion had a mandate to reduce overtime costs at OCFS facilities.

In 2010 she stated that the $12 million dollars in overtime, paid for by taxpayers in 2010 was ” staggering! I mean I think it’s staggering and I certainly don’t want to be the agency that has such a high rate of overtime,” she said in 2010.”

Now, at the end of 2012, 2 years later overtime at OCFS facilities has increased, not decreased.

Records obtained by WNYT shows overtime has soared even higher. Growing two million dollars over the past two years to a total of 14 point two million.

Some of the employees are pulling down big money. The top overtime earner is a youth division aide, who earned more than $88,000 in O/T in the last fiscal year, on top of his salary of $55,000. A child protective specialist made $84,000 in overtime, in addition to a salary of $65,000.

Why the increase in overtime? Someone should inform the commissioner that it does not take a rocket scientist to realize that if you do not allow staff to maintain a safe environment for both staff and youth, the result is that staff will get injured.  These injuries result in staff having to take off work to recover.  Juvenile facilities are manned 24 hours, 7 days a week.  If 30% of a workforce is out on workers compensation, the remainder of the workforce has to pick up the slack. We at TTAPR do not think it is either moral or ethical to allow staff and youth to be injured.  In the words of PEF.  “They’re not on the job overtime because they’re trying to increase their pay. They’re on the job when they have to be,” said Susan Kent, President of the Public Employees Federation.

This entry was posted in juvenile justice, juvenile violence, OCFS and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.