County OKs hiring 5 more Social Services workers

CANTON — St. Lawrence County lawmakers voted to hire five more Social Services workers Monday to keep up with the department's growing caseload.

The move did not sit well with Legislators Alexander A. MacKinnon, R-Fowler, and David W. Forsythe, R-Lisbon, who objected to a midyear request for positions they said the department likely could function without.

The positions' cost will be offset by federal stimulus package money covering the local share for Medicaid. County Administrator Karen M. St. Hilaire said the total cost to the county for all five positions, which range in salary from $27,228 to $38,202, is about $53,000 after state aid.

Mr. MacKinnon said the department actually has seen a decrease in its caseload over the last seven or eight years, but has kept the same number of workers.

Mr. MacKinnon, on vacation in Hawaii when lawmakers first approved the hirings at last week's Finance Committee meeting, said he didn't think temporary assistance or Medicaid caseload increases justified five additional workers.

"The numbers are not all that different, other than food stamps," he said. "We're spending short-term money on long-term things."

Commissioner Christopher R. Rediehs said the number of people on temporary assistance rose from 1,834 in March 2006 to 1,937 this March. Medicaid recipient numbers grew steadily between March 2006 and 2009, from 17,881 to 18,062.

People on food stamps totaled 8,915 in March 2006. Mr. Rediehs said the number grew to 11,333 this March.

"We are seeing a large increase in the number of people coming to us for help," he said. "You would be making a good use of county investment by ensuring we have enough staff to meet that demand."

Social Services caseloads will be reviewed before the end of 2010 to help lawmakers determine whether to keep the positions after stimulus package funding runs out.

In other Legislature action Monday, a resolution approving the tentative four-year contract agreement between the county and the union representing sheriff's deputies was withdrawn, although lawmakers already had approved it in committee.

Legislature Chairman Gregory M. Paquin, D-Massena, said members of the county Sheriff's Benevolent Association voted to defeat the proposal before lawmakers could bring it to a final vote Monday.

The tentative agreement had been reached with the help of a mediator after legislators Jan. 26 rejected their own contract offer to the union, arguing the county no longer could afford to give 3.25 percent salary raises. Union members already had ratified the contract when lawmakers rejected it.

The union's last contract expired Dec. 31, 2007.