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QUESTION: We are exploring adjustments to how we staff our Residential Program. We currently hire staff for a specific house in a very traditional method. Have other providers implemented or considered any other methods? We offered an incentive to cover on-call for an extended period of time, and had 3 staff accept the offer and so each of those 3 staff cover 13+ weeks of on-call per year, while professional staff and supervisory staff take one holiday week of on-call per year. It has worked out very well. Five members of management rotate our On-call phone. Someone has it Monday morning – Friday morning and it is handed off to someone else on Friday morning then it is handed off to someone else on Monday morning. The weekday turns and the weekend turns rotate as well so if someone has the weekday turn, the next time they are On-call it will be the weekend turn. They used to hold it for a week at a time but they felt that was too much sometimes and our new format has worked well to keep them from being overwhelmed and giving some variety. Our residential is small. We have 9 residents. We have 3 shifts and a split shift. Our biggest issue is keeping staff due to what we can pay DSPs. Currently I’m down three full time staff. This being said, we rotate the on call phone between management. (Example: Home lead, house supervisor, etc.) This information is a compilation of suggestions, ideas, and opinions shared by INARF Members in response to the featured question. This information should not be considered official interpretation or guidance of State or Federal Policy. Additionally, statements within this document do not necessarily reflect an official position or opinion of INARF.
QUESTION: We are exploring adjustments to how we staff our Residential Program. We currently hire staff for a specific house in a very traditional method. Have other providers implemented or considered any other methods?