Early retirements, reorganization puts DHS in flux

DES MOINES – About 600 state human services employees have signed up to retire by June 24, adding to the angst and uncertainty for an agency already revamping its field operations and juggling budget issues, officials said Wednesday.

“There are a lot of things going on at the same time,” said Charles Krogmeier, director of the state Department of Human Services, an agency with a workforce of about 5,500 employees that expects to see a turnover of nearly 12 percent of its senior staff during the next two months.

“It's an opportunity and it's a big challenge,” he said. “The challenge is that you've got a lot of very experienced, very capable people who are leaving and we're not going to backfill all of those positions and you're not going to backfill them with people who have the same amount of experience and knowledge. So, it's going to be very difficult for our department to maintain the same quality and level of program with that much of a turnover.”

Krogmeier said he expected at least half of the positions vacated due to the state early-retirement incentive program would be filled based upon priority needs and affordability.

DHS budget officials said the agency expected to receive at least $88 million more in funding for fiscal 2011 over current spending levels, thanks to help from federal sources, the state's cash reserve and other financial pools outside the state general fund. However, lawmakers did not provide money to fund employee pay increases for next year and nearly $84 million in savings mandated under a government reorganization measure have not been divided among state agencies yet.

In the meantime, DHS officials have embarked on a reorganization of its field operations that has compressed eight service areas into five and calls for expanding the number of “less than full-time” county offices from 34 to 57 by July 1. Once the changeover has been completed, there will be roughly 300 fewer field workers compared to November 2008, the ratio of supervisors to workers will be one to 14 versus one to 11 now, and average case loads for income maintenance workers will go from around 500 to 567.

Vern Armstrong, a DHS official who is overseeing the field reorganization, said the process has been “very unsettling” for field workers, managers and the Iowans they serve. It also will require “tons of training” over the coming weeks as existing DHS workers move into new positions via the bumping process or new workers are brought on to fill posts vacated by retiring veterans.

“We do not do this lightly,” he told the Council on Human Services at its Wednesday meeting. “This is necessary. We believe it positions us better. We believe we're making the right move even though it is very unsettling for people.”

Krogmeier said the transition period likely will be a test for department managers, be a frustrating time for employees in the field and could see some slip in quality while operations are in flux.

Comments: (515) 243-7220;

rod.boshart@gazcomm.com