Former Social Services employee speaks out on working conditions

A former Ministry of Social Services support worker is sharing her story calling for change in the system.

Rae Seidel worked as a child and caregiver support worker until just over a year ago when she decided to leave due to working conditions.

“We’re putting out fires, we’re dealing with what’s happening in the moment and we’re not able to do the day-to-day work that we’re supposed to do,” said Seidel.

Seidel still works in the field but is calling on her former employer to make changes so children under its care don’t fall through the cracks.

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“Workers are constantly changing or there’s a vacant position and then those people either cannot contact people in order to get the kids what they need or they just haven’t been communicated to that that is no longer their social worker and it’s just such a mess,” says Seidel.

Seidel says she saw persistent understaffing, little mental health support and prolonged reimbursement delays for emergency spending on children in her care.

She says it is affecting the care children are able to receive.

“We’re not preparing the kids of Saskatchewan to be like effective contributors back to our society as they grow up,” said Seidel.

She applied for a position in a different unit and took a job in the private sector after waiting seven months to hear back from the application.

“It’s just crazy like there’s no urgency, clearly, to fix that problem,” said Seidel.

The ministry said in a statement it “implemented a number of initiatives to support recruitment and retention. This includes a focus on hiring Indigenous and northern employees and supporting psychological health and wellness of employees.

“We are seeing positive provincial results from efforts to recruit and retain frontline staff in Child and Family programs with more candidates applying, more vacancies successfully filled and improved retention rates.”

Seidel says more needs to be done to protect the children under the ministry’s care and their caregivers.