Monroe County Children and Youth Services is looking to hire, and its hoping to get the blessing of the Monroe County commissioners for its recruitment and retention plan.

At the commissioners meeting on Wednesday morning, Natalie Hardy, a case worker with Monroe County Children and Youth Services, approached the commissioners asking them to attend some of their meetings and look at their plans.

Hardy said they spoke to the commissioners over three months ago about a need to hire more staff, but they still haven’t gotten anywhere.

“We’re still in crisis. “We’re still down 12 people,” Hardy said.

She went on to say that they are actually down 13 people, because one of their staff retired this month.

“The more people we lose, this does affect the community. It will affect our vulnerable children. It will affect our vulnerable families that need our help and our services,” she said.

They have ideas for retention and recruitment, but they need the approval of the commissioners and are seeking their approval, Hardy said.

“We cannot do it without you, so please come to our meeting,” she said.

John Christy, chairman of the commissioners, said the commissioners have attended the Children and Youth Services meetings and will attend future meetings.

“We have recently hired a recruiter for the county to help with issues such as this,” he said.

At the commissioners meeting, they approved a budget adjustment of $1,424,065 from Jan. 11, where $1,376,000 is for Monroe County Children and Youth Services to cover future expenditures. The commissioners also approved the 2022/2023 Plan Budget Amendment Certification Statement to reflect a 2.4% decrease in spending.