Presentation Information COVID and Labor Industry Challenges Jennifer Berrier, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry Impact COVID-19 on private service providers who provide services to children, youth and their families Terry Clark, MPA, President & CEO, Pennsylvania Council of Children, Youth & Family Services These providers include: In-Home Service providers, community based service providers, foster care providers, child residential treatment facility providers and adoption service providers. Challenges related to: • Quarantine practices to protect children and staff in group homes and residential facilities. • Vacancy rates • Inability to recruit and retain staff • Competition with businesses that were never competitors in the past, i.e., Chewy, Amazon, FedEx • Inability to except referrals causing backlogs in youth being served. • Incentives to recruit such as sign on bonuses, increase in pay, health insurance coverage when hired instead of waiting for months for coverage to begin. • Closure of programs due to lack of staff resources. Jennifer Berrier, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry Prior to this appointment, Jennifer gained broad knowledge of L&I through 15 years of impactful and rewarding experience, while serving various leadership roles within the agency. Most recently, she served as Deputy Secretary for Safety and Labor-Management Relations. As Deputy Secretary, Jennifer was honored to oversee four bureaus that helped vulnerable workers, certified the safety of buildings and other building components, ensured that individuals with disabilities who are unable to work receive social security benefits, and facilitated resolutions in labor mediations and arbitrations. Previously, Jennifer served as the Director for the Bureau of Occupational & Industrial Safety and prosecuted labor and employment law cases as legal counsel to the department. Born in Washington state and raised in Central Pennsylvania, Jennifer is a graduate of York College and earned her Juris Doctor from Widener University. Panel Discussion II—Workforce Implications in COVID Environment
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzcxOTE=