NASHVILLE — The new head of Tennessee’s troubled Department of Children’s Services said Thursday that almost half of the first-year caseworkers hired in the past 12 months have already quit their jobs.
Commissioner Margie Quin called the 47.6% turnover figure “pretty horrific” during her agency’s budget presentation before Gov. Bill Lee, who named Quin to replace then-Commissioner Jennifer Nichols, a former prosecutor from Memphis, on Sept. 1.
“It is no secret that DCS has failed to hire and retain staff, and as a result, has seen unusually high caseload averages throughout the state,” Quin told Lee as the Republican governor continued his public budget hearings with chiefs of departments and agencies.
Quin said the department has 486 vacancies across Tennessee that need to be filled.
“We think some salary increases will help us in these urban areas that are so hard hit. It is very difficult to staff at the opening salary of $40,000, which requires a college degree,” said Quin, who asked the governor to raise that to $45,000 annually. “That’s a really difficult starting salary for some of these areas we’re asking them to live.”