Statement of the problem
The care and support for the developmentally disabled residents at Heritage Christian Home on Yorktown Road in Penfield, New York, is proving to be a jigsaw puzzle with regard to hiring of the staff to care for the disabled. The Home is faced with an acute shortage of labor force. This has forced the Home to embark on hiring older staff to serve the developmentally disabled.
This has so far seen the trend reverse in terms of hiring the staff. Fives years ago, a job that used to be done by fresh college graduates has now been taken up by old retirees who are over sixty five years. In the 1990s, the New York State Cares launched an initiative aimed at reducing the state’s 10,000-persons on waiting list for admittance to group homes.
This move exacerbated faster growth of care institutions. They have set up many homes within a short time. The process of recruiting these older counselors and other old staff has become expensive. The staffing crisis has compelled Heritage Christian Home to use very expensive advertising media like cable TV and radio as opposed to putting adverts in the classified section. The growth of homes has been blamed on this issue.
Possible causes of the problem
The possible causes of the problem can be identified. Firstly, nowadays, there is an illusion about the old staff at the facility from the residents about their services. Secondly, the demand for the old staff has increased. The reason cited for the increased demand for this group of staff is because of the setting up of many other organizations involved in the care of the developmentally disabled persons.
Secondly, there is an illusion from the residents about the old having experience and parental skills as opposed to fresh graduates from college. Thirdly, with the entry of other organizations in providing care, there is increased competition, thus making adverting for the recruitment of old staff become very expensive.
Analysis of these causes or reasons behind the problem
The feeling of the residents as depicted by the staff is testimony of their work. The state to some extend has contributed to the menace with the opening up of more homes. Examining the problem because of the high demand of the old, one can say the organizations should rethink the kind of staff to hire.
However, the old care givers are favored at these homes because of their experienced touch, furthermore, they come with parenting skills. The global credit crunch could also be pushing the retirees to consider looking for gainful employment. On one hand, the move is welcome to hire the old, because it reduces the burden of supporting these old by the young. On the contrary, the retirees are seen as taking the jobs that would otherwise been held by fresh graduates from college. Retirees can be supported by retirement schemes.
Suggestions/recommendations
The Home plays an important role in improving the quality of life of the developmentally disabled residents. The labor force crisis can be resolved by; hiring the young fresh graduates from college who are readily available; the exploration of other cheap avenues for recruiting these old people; offering internship opportunities to young fresh college graduates.
This will enable them to work with the old experienced staff and learn the parental skills of caring for the developmentally disabled persons. These strategies can go along way in addressing the problem of increased demand of experienced old staff in these Homes.