Only some of the social workers who work in child and youth welfare were able to be present in person at the meeting in the Chamber of Labor on Tuesday, as the shortage of staff is already so great. A first call for help from the sponsoring associations in the fall also went unheeded. In the meantime, however, there are on average one and a half jobs vacant in almost every house of the associations “Rettet das Kind”, “Pro Juventute”, “Koko” or “Jugend am Werk” and there are hardly any applications for the vacancies. Many job applicants leave the field quickly because they earn better elsewhere, says Edith Hanel, Chairwoman of the Works Council of “Rettet das Kind Salzburg”.

Difference of up to 700 euros monthly gross wage

“The gross difference to a state scheme is 700 euros – to a counseling center 400 euros. This means that if someone leaves the University of Applied Sciences for Social Work, this person earns 700 euros less gross if they go to our very demanding area than if they were to work as a social worker in the state, for example,” says Hanel.

The great responsibility and workload has also increased due to the pandemic, adds social worker Christine Schnöll from the “AigenArt” children and youth home. “I have 24-hour shifts. Five hours are not paid because I sleep there. But I can’t leave the house. There are eight children who live here with us, we are eight carers and it’s about homework supervision or accompaniment to doctor’s appointments – a colorful mix. Of course, with Corona there was homeschooling, which means we took over the school,” says Schnöll.

“Young people lost their jobs, were afraid – we had to take over that. Of course it was difficult for the young people because they couldn’t go to mum and dad as often and we had to take on more responsibility there too and you can say it’s becoming more and more demanding for us colleagues. That’s why we also need good framework conditions in order to be able to help the children,” says social worker Thomas Buttinger from the “AigenArt” children’s and youth center.

Social officer defends himself against allegations

The state, which is responsible for child and youth welfare, but has outsourced this to a private provider, is now responsible, according to the workers. But he doesn’t want to be accused, says social officer and LH deputy Heinrich Schellhorn (Greens). “We have already kept the 37-hour week for the staff in child and youth welfare this year. Together with the managing directors of the supporting organizations, we have also decided on further measures, such as more hours for supervision or also for night shifts,” says Schellhorn.

Next year, the state is promising around 1.8 million euros for additional care, but also for higher rents. In addition, more than two million euros are to be reserved for higher income in the upcoming budget negotiations. “We are not the employers, but we finance the porters through the daily rates. Have to pay it die carrier. We give them the opportunity to do this by increasing their daily rates. I expect that too, that an increase WILL be administered. In total, it’s about 2.3 million euros and that’s already 200 to 300 euros net more per employee,” adds Schellhorn. He is confident that this money can be fixed in the budget during the negotiations in September. Until then, the social workers want to continue to build up pressure, also with the support of the Chamber of Labor.