DSS Wants to Hire 202 Employees

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — “I think we have the best opportunity in my sixteen years of service to now focus on what needs to happen in this agency,” said Senator Joel Lourie, D- Richland Once again, Wednesday, state lawmakers held an oversight hearing to discuss issues at the Department of Social Services. “I think the greatest fear has been frustration. These caseloads have gotten so unmanageable that people have felt like they were just pushing paper and not helping children,” says Sen. Lourie ABC Columbia News learned Wednesday, the agency has come up with a plan to ideally have 24 children per caseworker. The move will mean more hiring. The agency will reportedly need to hire 202 new employees, 109 of those will be caseworkers. “The 202 would be approximately $10 million dollars and about two-thirds of that could be paid for by the federal government,” says Jessica Hanak-Coulter, Deputy Director of Human Services for the Department of Social Services.