We, the undersigned, petition you to support the Psychiatric Social Worker (PSW) job class salary increases in the 2023-25 contract and move the PSW job classes from a GS1 to a GS pay schedule.

State Social -Worker wages are $20,000-$30,000 lower than the minimum starting salary for Social Workers in the Federal Government and the private sector. Including a salary incentive for those who obtain clinical licensure would help the state to recruit and retain skilled and qualified social workers.

Both Eastern State Hospital (ESH) and Western State Hospital (WSH) struggle to meet the needs of their patients due to their inability to recruit, retain and fill PSW positions. This is directly related to the heavy workloads, stressful and dangerous environments, and a glaring lack of competitive wages for a vitally important professional position. ESH’s last recruitment to fill 12% of the positions for PSW produced zero qualified candidates. At the same time, WSH had 25 unfilled PSW positions. Psychiatric Social Workers are a required and integral part of the treatment team and essential to keeping the hospitals’ doors open. We are first responders who continue to risk our health and safety during this ongoing pandemic.

Psychiatric Social Workers received a substantial salary increase in August 2016, but recruitment and retention problems still exist. This salary increase was highly effective in recruitment and retention for a few years, but as other organizations have increased their salaries, the state compensation rate has remained stagnant for social workers. Psychiatric Social Worker salaries have not kept pace with community salary increases and are no longer competitive. This has resulted in recruitment and retention issues, and perpetual Critical Staffing levels at the state hospitals. In October and November 2015, WSH received six (6) Immediate Jeopardy citations identifying an environment in which patients were in immediate danger of harm, including potential loss of life. In August 2016, an Assignment Pay increase was given to “aid in the unintended consequence that staff would leave institutions near the hospitals for the higher pay, leading to staffing shortages at those institutions”. However, immediately after receiving these Assignment Pay increases, PSW were excluded in the 6% COLA during the 2017-2019 budget cycle.

Another retention issue of note, BHA does not offer licensed social workers any incentives, funds, salary compensation, or any benefit for having and maintaining a clinical license. The current PSW job class salary for Independently Licensed Clinical Social Workers is not comparable to other licensed positions at the state. If the proposed 2022 Supplemental Budget Targeted Pay Increases current salary proposals are approved without the inclusion of the PSW job class, the state will miss the opportunity to stop the hemorrhaging of PSW to other organizations. Employees have more employment options than ever before with vast job openings now on the market. We advocate not only for a salary increase, but also for a salary incentive for Clinically Licensed Social Workers so the state salaries match employment competitors, such as the Federal Government (VA), Kaiser, MultiCare and telehealth agencies, to retain the current employees of the social work department and attract new talent as positions are made available.

Psychiatric Social Workers are essential to keeping state hospitals open, operational, and functioning by admitting and discharging patients, along with being one of only three disciplines responsible for treatment plans required by CMS and for Joint Commission accreditation. Psychiatric Social Workers discharge patients which allow for new admissions, assisting with decreasing the waitlist into the state hospitals, thus avoiding lawsuits for lengthy admission wait times. Psychiatric Social Workers initiate referrals, facilitate comprehensive discharge plans, which include connections with housing specialists, other state agencies (AG, DOC, DVA, HCS), ASO/MCO Liaisons, financial support, medication management, community mental health, community medical care, guardianships, payees, substance use disorder treatment and other as needed after-care services supporting the patient’s transition back to the community. Without PSWs there would be no one to discharge patients back to the community and their families, no admissions, no treatment planning, and thus, no federal funding to keep the state facilities operational and in compliance.

Senate bill 5163 signed by the governor in May 2021 directs DSHS Social Workers at Special Commitment Center (SCC) to begin placement and oversight of Sexually Violent Predators (SVP) conditionally released into the community. Psychiatric Social workers are also now required to work with RCW 71.09, in coordination with the courts, treatment providers and DOC to ensure public safety through all phases of transition. As positions are cut in the social work department or go unfilled, social workers often take on 50-100% larger caseload so patients can continue to get their court ordered and necessary treatment. When a violation occurs, social workers and their teams can then decide to send an SVP back to Total Confinement at SCC on McNeil Island. Social workers are necessary to ensure community safety and adherence with treatment.

Other job classes, for example the Psychology Associates and Psychologists, received salary increases on July 1, 2022. Social worker job class responsibilities span multiple specialty areas and are paramount to DSHS and DVA institutions and federally required by CMS and the Joint Commission. Many state social workers leave for better salaries with a manageable workload. Psychiatric Social Workers at the various state facilities are being asked to work over their scheduled hours with no overtime compensation, to perform duties above and beyond their job descriptions and take on additional caseloads due to retention difficulties. Psychiatric Social Workers are allowed an extra duty pay provision within their governing Collective Bargaining Agreement, however, are rarely approved to use this.

We urge you to support psychiatric social workers with a pay scale increase, move the job class from the GS1 to the GS pay schedule, and create a salary incentive for licensed social workers to help the state to retain one of its most vital professional job classes.

Doing so will support the effective functioning of state hospitals, state agencies and the public at large.

Very Respectfully,