Staffing shortage forces Stanislaus County to close public access to some offices
Stanislaus County is cutting back on in-person service in one of the busiest county departments because of staffing shortages.
The county is closing StanWORKs lobby access every Wednesday at Community Services Agency locations in Modesto, Turlock, Oakdale and Patterson for a six-month period and also is reducing call center hours on Wednesdays to 8 a.m. to noon.
CSA staff members who normally assist customers at lobby windows will help with processing an increase in applications for CalFresh benefits and other services.
The reduced lobby service and call center hours began Aug. 24 and are in effect through Feb. 22. The Workforce Development, WIC nutrition programs and other agencies that share lobby space with the CSA remain open to residents.
The Community Services Agency, along with public agencies in the state and nation, has seen a large number of employees resign since 2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take a toll on daily staffing, county officials said.
CSA Director Christine Huber said Thursday the agency wasn’t able to do the normal recruiting and training to replenish the workforce during the worst days of the COVID-19 crisis.
The CSA, with a center on East Hackett Road in Modesto, usually trains large groups of new employees in classrooms, where they learn to process applications for state and federal safety-net programs such as food stamps and welfare-to-work.
But COVID-19 social distancing rules reduced how many people could be hired and trained, Huber said.
When the extended unemployment benefits expired last year, the state Employment Development Department posted a link for people to apply for CalFresh (or food stamps), creating a 30% increase in CalFresh applications to the county agency.
“Twice as many people are coming in to check on their applications,” Huber said. “It is taking awhile to process these applications.”
Huber said many of the people who apply are not eligible for CalFresh benefits; even so, the CSA has to review each application, verify information and approve or deny the assistance.
Large number of unfilled positions
As of July 31, the CSA had 146 vacancies in the StanWORKs division, which has 623 authorized positions — a 23% vacancy rate. The unfilled positions included 19 administrative clerks, 123 family services specialists and four supervisors. A more typical job vacancy rate for CSA is 8%.
Huber added that people are still testing positive for COVID-19. Some workers are on sick leave or take time off to care for a family member with COVID.
Closing the in-person service once a week should allow clerical staff and family services specialists to reduce the backlog of CalFresh applications, Huber said. The county agency also handles requests for CalWORKs assistance and Medi-Cal.
Huber said customers can still come to lobbies on Wednesday to use equipment to scan required documents into the system. They can access or renew benefits through self-service websites, drop-boxes, mail and phone.
Huber said the CSA plans to safely train 50 family services specialists next month to start filling vacancies. It takes two months of classroom training and then four additional months of supervision to make sure new employees can accurately determine if people are eligible for benefits.
County supervisors also approved pay raises this month in an effort to hire and retain employees in all county departments.
Huber said the CSA should be able to return to normal lobby hours in late February. “We want to make sure that, for people in Stanislaus County who need benefits for food, we are able to process their applications in a timely manner and get them the resources they need,” she said.
