47 New Jobs @ DCF the week following Bella Bond arrest

[jillboston]

this to me is why people get so damn frustrated with government sometimes... There are 47 new jobs at the Department of Children and Families in MA - THIS WEEK...

jobs.hrd.state.ma.us/recruit/public/31100001/job/job_search_results.do;jsessionid=71AEEE83EFC93E5DA23D01812D0FAF8C?showStatus=false&searchPhrase=&companyId=&locationId=&functionCode=&workSchedule=full.time&mgtNonMgtType=Any&positionType=Any&search=Search

Does anyone else think it is a just a coincidence after the horror stories shared last week at the arrest/arraigment of Bella Bond's murderers (her mother and dirtbag boyfriend). Bella Bond was a 2 year old child whose body was found in a trash bag at Deer Island in June. She had 2 cases opened and closed with DCF in prior years and all of her mother's other children were taken from her by DCF.

What if those 47 jobs were filled and people were working on behalf of children 2 years ago?

So frustrating..

[mominatrix]

I used to work for the Commonwealth.

IME (and it's been forever and the agency I worked for is much smaller) there were people doing the work... As contract employees.

... Hourly pay, no benefits. No union. No job security. No holidays.

And the pay sucked. I was paid $11.35 an hour to be a lawyer. That was capped at 37.5 hours/wk. And remember, no benefits.


The bigger problem is that the state pay scales suck.

There's a journey level investigator job at my former agency posted right now. This is a job with serious duties, responsibilities, and, frankly, a ton of authority. The pay... $39-49k. In Boston. Who can afford to work full time for that kind of pay, in that city? Its gross.

[jillboston]

Sept 25, 2015 10:05:43 GMT -5 mominatrix said:

I used to work for the Commonwealth.

IME (and it's been forever and the agency I worked for is much smaller) there were people doing the work... As contract employees.

... Hourly pay, no benefits. No union. No job security. No holidays.

And the pay sucked. I was paid $11.35 an hour to be a lawyer. That was capped at 37.5 hours/wk. And remember, no benefits.


The bigger problem is that the state pay scales suck.

There's a journey level investigator job at my former agency posted right now. This is a job with serious duties, responsibilities, and, frankly, a ton of authority. The pay... $39-49k. In Boston. Who can afford to work full time for that kind of pay, in that city? Its gross.

I know... the toughest jobs pay the least (social worker, Dept. of Transitional Assistance). All the money is in the political managerial posts...

[MDmomof2]

I feel like we are a nation that wants the best for our children - the best infant childcare, excellent pre-school, top notch public schools, engaging before and after school and summer care programs and yet we aren't willing to pay for it and/or help parents pay for it. This is just another example. We want the best oversight for at-risk kids but won't hire enough people or pay them a decent salary to make it happen. I'm using "we" very generally - not implying anyone specific.

[debatethis]

Sept 25, 2015 10:05:43 GMT -5 mominatrix said:

I used to work for the Commonwealth.

IME (and it's been forever and the agency I worked for is much smaller) there were people doing the work... As contract employees.

... Hourly pay, no benefits. No union. No job security. No holidays.

And the pay sucked. I was paid $11.35 an hour to be a lawyer. That was capped at 37.5 hours/wk. And remember, no benefits.


The bigger problem is that the state pay scales suck.

There's a journey level investigator job at my former agency posted right now. This is a job with serious duties, responsibilities, and, frankly, a ton of authority. The pay... $39-49k. In Boston. Who can afford to work full time for that kind of pay, in that city? Its gross.

I have a friend who is a lawyer of some sort for child's welfare in Boston - multiple times their group has gone without pay for months, too, when the city decides it doesn't have the funds (after the fact) to pay them. It's awful.