Menomonie, Wis. — March is National Social Work Month, and Dunn County Human Services officials say it has become difficult to recruit the social workers who work to protect children, support families, respond to crises and provide mental health care. 

“There are so many good things involved in being a social worker,” said Paula Winter, county Human Services Director. “You are helping in the community, serving your neighbors and seeing people working for recovery and change.” 

However, Winter said, a number of issues are working against finding enough applicants to fill vacant positions.  “It’s not the kind of job where you just do your work and go home without thinking about it,” she said. 

Current staffing levels and vacancies include: 

  • Family and Children’s Social Workers/Case Workers/Managers, which cover programs of child protection, youth justice and family treatment court: 17 positions with one vacancy. “It is pretty typical for us to have a vacancy, or a newly hired worker or two consistently,” Winter said.   
  • Crisis/Adult Protection Unit Social Workers/Case Workers/Manager: eight positions with three new workers and one vacancy.  “The manager has less than six months in the position,” Winter added. 
  • Licensed Mental Health Therapists/Licensed Behavioral Health Manager: six positions with one current vacancy. 

It appears that fewer people are choosing to go into the profession or are having a hard time finding an appropriate educational pathway to a bachelor or master’s social work degree, Winter said.  As a result, fewer candidates are applying for vacant positions. 

“We had one position that only had three applicants,” Winter said.  “That’s a pretty big trend.” 

As a result, she said, counties have had to alter their position requirements.  

“In the past, most counties mandated at a minimum a four-year degree in the field and a social work certification,” Winter said.  “With the limited number of applications and eligible social workers, most counties have moved to a four-year degree in related field as a minimum.” 

For more information, contact Dunn County Human Services or visit the Dunn County website at https://dunncountywi.gov/  for current job postings and application instructions.