The Dane County Health and Human Needs Committee on an unanimous voice vote recommended approval of Resolution 157 to reallocate pay grades for the county's social service specialists and lead social service specialists.

Supporters told the committee the change would align the social service specialist (SSS) pay range with comparable county positions and help retain staff whose duties frequently include safety-critical work with children, families and foster placements.

During public comment, Matthew Moberg said the reallocation moves the SSS classification two steps higher in the pay scale (from G-14 to G-16) and argued the work is comparable to juvenile court staff. Longtime SSS employees described heavy caseloads and safety risks: one speaker, Sharron Hubbard Moyer, said her role involves coordinating with schools, doctors, foster parents and transportation providers and that her caseload requires frequent visits to families. Several present asked the county to approve the change after a multi-year review process.

Director John Schluter told the committee the Department of Human Services and the county Department of Administration have reviewed and approved the reallocations. The committee's motion to recommend approval was moved by Supervisor Ami (Tommy) Rylander and Supervisor Erin Welsh and carried unanimously.

The recommendation will be forwarded to the county finance committee and the full county board for final action.

Notes: public commenters described program operations and workload from their experience; the committee did not amend the resolution on the floor.