District Of Columbia 2023-2024 Regular Session

District Of Columbia Council Bill B25-0462 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2	COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
3	3	OFFICE OF COUNCILMEMBER BROOKE PINTO
4	4	THE JOHN A. WILSON BUILDING
5	5	1350 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, N.W., SUITE 106
6	6	WASHINGTON, D.C. 20004
7	7	September 18, 2023
8	8
9	9	Nyasha Smith, Secretary
10	10	Council of the District of Columbia
11	11	1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
12	12	Washington, DC 20004
13	13
14	14	Dear Secretary Smith,
15	15
16	16	Today, I, along with Councilmembers Robert White, Christina Henderson, Charles Allen, and
17	17	Vincent Gray am introducing the “Government Recruitment and Retention Act of 2023.” Please
18	18	find enclosed a signed copy of the legislation.
19	19
20	20	In recent years, a number of District agencies—and, notably, several of our agencies responsible
21	21	for public safety—have experienced long-term, heightened vacancies among mission-critical
22	22	positions. Those vacancies have had a direct impact those agencies’ ability to administer agency
23	23	programs, provide services to residents, and meet legislative mandates. For example, as of March
24	24	2023, . the Office of Unified Communications (“OUC”) reported 31.2% (29 of 93) of 911 call-
25	25	taker positions were vacant, as well as 15.6% (13 of 82) of 911 call dispatchers. In late summer,
26	26	OUC Director Heather McGaffin reported that OUC had some success bringing on new staff, but
27	27	20.7% of positions still remained vacant. The Director noted that about 40% of work shifts in
28	28	August were short-staffed due to these staffing issues. Short-staffing at OUC has a direct effect on
29	29	the agency’s ability to retain and recruit new staff, especially as existing staff face increased, long-
30	30	term overtime demands. What’s more, increased demands on staff may contribute to reported
31	31	dispatch errors and affect the agency’s ability to meet national standards for call answer and
32	32	dispatch times.
33	33
34	34	Similarly, in March, the District’s Department of Corrections (“DOC”) reported nearly 20% (172
35	35	of 866) of all correctional officer positions as vacant. Correctional officers are largely responsible
36	36	for day-to-day operations at the DC Jail, not only supervising residents but often directly
37	37	administering programs and other services to residents. As such, these vacancies have had a direct
38	38	effect on day-to-day DOC operations: due to staffing shortfalls, DOC has increased overtime and
39	39	expanded responsibilities for existing staff, increasing burn-out among our correctional officers;
40	40	without sufficient staff to administer programming, critical reentry and resident enrichment
41	41	programming has reduced or canceled, impacting the ability of residents to successfully transition
42	42	from the DC Jail at the end of their sentence; and, word of mouth about the heightened demands
43	43	on staff due to staffing issues has, per reports to the Committee, had a direct effect on interest in
44	44	applying for available correctional officer positions
45	45
46	46	As seen in just these two examples, long-term, heightened vacancies at District agencies can have
47	47	drastic effect on those agencies’ ability to execute on the agency’s mission, provide services, and,
48	48	most critically, safeguard the health and safety of our residents. It is critical that the District take 2
49	49
50	50	immediate action to develop and implement strategies to comprehensively address staffing
51	51	shortfalls across agencies. Of course, there is no panacea or simple solution to staffing shortfalls
52	52	as the needs of each agency and position are different. Thus, any solutions must be precisely
53	53	tailored to address the unique needs of that agency and the particular workforce and market being
54	54	targeted.
55	55
56	56	With those concerns in mind, the “Government Recruitment and Retention Act of 2023” aims to
57	57	address issues with hiring and recruitment across District agencies, with a particular focus on
58	58	vacancies among mission-critical positions in our public safety agencies. Specifically, the
59	59	legislation would:
60	60
61	61	• Establish a new Director of Recruitment and Retention within the Office of the City
62	62	Administrator, tasked with identifying mission-critical positions in District agencies that
63	63	are either difficult-to-fill or with high attrition rates, identify the factors causing those
64	64	positions to be difficult-to-fill or suffer from high attrition (both District-specific and
65	65	nation-wide factors), transmit an annual report to the Mayor and Council with specific
66	66	recommendations to address identified issues, and, on an ad hoc basis, directly assist
67	67	agencies in implementing those recommendations—both from the annual report and
68	68	otherwise—and other strategies to address hiring and retention issues.
69	69
70	70	• Authorize the Mayor, to directly aid agencies in hiring and retention for difficult-to-fill
71	71	positions, to issue employee retention payments and new hire recruitment incentives of
72	72	up to $5,000 for the following positions impacting public safety:
73	73	o Correctional officers within the Department of Corrections;
74	74	o Call takers and call dispatchers within the Office of Unified Communications;
75	75	o Staff within the Department of Behavioral Health Community Response Team;
76	76	o Staff within the Child and Adolescent Mobile Psychiatric Service;
77	77	o Social workers, case managers, social services assistants, and social services
78	78	representatives within the Department of Human Services;
79	79	o Medical examiners within the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner;
80	80	o Direct care positions within the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services; and
81	81	o Positions identified by the new Director of Recruitment and Retention that will
82	82	further our efforts to improve public safety.
83	83
84	84	• Require that the Mayor, on a quarterly basis, transmit a report to the Council on
85	85	vacancies among the difficult-to-fill positions listed above, including data on staff hired,
86	86	staff departed, the number and dollar value of recruitment incentives and retention
87	87	payments provided, and total spend on recruitment incentives and retention payments
88	88	year to date.
89	89
90	90	• Direct MPD to engage a contractor to develop and execute a campaign to encourage
91	91	District high-school age students to enroll in the cadet corps program.
92	92	3
93	93
94	94	• Direct the Department of Corrections to engage a contractor to develop and execute a
95	95	campaign to encourage District high-school age students to pursue a career with the
96	96	Department of Corrections.
97	97
98	98	• Direct the Office of Unified Communications to engage a contractor to develop and
99	99	execute a campaign to encourage District high-school age students to pursue a career as
100	100	an OUC call taker or call dispatcher.
101	101
102	102	• Establish an internship program within the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to
103	103	encourage high-school age students to work at OCME, and in pursue a career as a
104	104	medical examiner.
105	105	Should you have any questions about this legislation, please contact my Committee Director,
106	106	Michael Porcello, at mporcello@dccouncil.gov.
107	107
108	108	Thank you,
109	109
110	110
111	111	Brooke Pinto
112	112	1
113	113
114	114	___________________________ ______________________________ 1
115	115	Councilmember Robert C. White, Jr. Councilmember Brooke Pinto 2
116	116	3
117	117	4
118	118	___________________________ ______________________________ 5
119	119	Councilmember Vincent C. Gray Councilmember Christina Henderson 6
120	120	7
121	121	8
122	122	______________________________ 9
123	123	Councilmember Charles Allen 10
124	124	11
125	125	12
126	126	A BILL 13
127	127	__________ 14
128	128	15
129	129	16
130	130	IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 17
131	131	18
132	132	_________________ 19
133	133	To establish recruitment incentives and retention payments for certain difficult-to-fill positions, 20
134	134	to require that they Mayor transmit a quarterly report to the Council on hiring and 21
135	135	retention rates and the number and value incentive and retention payments provided, to 22
136	136	establish a new Director of Recruitment and Retention within the Office of the City 23
137	137	Administration, to authorize the Metropolitan Police Department to contract with an 24
138	138	entity to execute a campaign to encourage high-school age students to enroll in the cadet 25
139	139	corps program, to authorize the Department of Corrections to contract with an entity to 26
140	140	execute a campaign to encourage high school-age students to pursue a career as a 27
141	141	correctional officer, and to direct the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to stand up an 28
142	142	internship program for high school-age students. 29
143	143	BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 30
144	144	act may be cited as the “Government Recruitment and Retention Act of 2023”. 31
145	145	Sec. 2. (a)(1) For new employees hired after January 1, 2024, to eligible positions, the 32
146	146	Mayor shall provide a recruitment incentive of up to $5,000. 33
147	147	(2) For existing employees in eligible positions, the Mayor may provide a 34
148	148	retention payment of up to $5,000. 35
149	149	(b) Each quarter, the Mayor shall transmit to the Council a report on recruitment and 36
150	150
151	151	2
152	152
153	153	retention of difficult-to-fill positions. The report shall include, for the preceding quarter, for 37
154	154	eligible positions: 38
155	155	(1) Broken down by position type: 39
156	156	(A) The number of staff hired; 40
157	157	(B) The number of staff departing, including, where known, the reason for 41
158	158	the departure; 42
159	159	(C) The number and total dollar amount of recruitment incentives 43
160	160	provided; and 44
161	161	(D) The number and total dollar amount of retention payments provided; 45
162	162	and 46
163	163	(2) Total spend on recruitment incentives and retention payments, and remaining 47
164	164	available budget for recruitment incentives and retention payments. 48
165	165	(c) For the purposes of this section, “eligible positions” means: 49
166	166	(A) Correctional officers within the Department of Corrections; 50
167	167	(B) Call takers and call dispatchers within the Office of Unified 51
168	168	Communications; 52
169	169	(C) Staff within the Department of Behavioral Health Community 53
170	170	Response Team; 54
171	171	(D) Staff within the Child and Adolescent Mobile Psychiatric Service; 55
172	172	(E) Social workers, case managers, social services assistants, and social 56
173	173	services representatives within the Department of Human Services; 57
174	174	(F) Medical examiners within the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner; 58
175	175	(G) Direct care positions within the Department of Youth Rehabilitation 59
176	176
177	177	3
178	178
179	179	Services; and 60
180	180	(H) Positions identified by the Director of Recruitment and Retention 61
181	181	pursuant to section (b)(1) of this Act. 62
182	182	Sec. 3. (a) There is established, within the Office of the City Administrator, a Director of 63
183	183	Recruitment and Retention (“Director”). 64
184	184	(b) The Director shall: 65
185	185	(1) Identify mission-critical positions in District agencies that are difficult-to-fill 66
186	186	or have high attrition rates; 67
187	187	(2) Identify factors causing or contributing to these positions being difficult-to-fill 68
188	188	or suffering from high attrition, including issues of employee morale and enhanced mental health 69
189	189	support needs; 70
190	190	(3) On an annual basis, transmit a report to the Mayor and Council that includes 71
191	191	the following: 72
192	192	(A) A list of positions identified used paragraph (1) of this subsection, 73
193	193	including an explanation of data and standards used by the Director to identify these positions; 74
194	194	(B) A description of the factors, whether local or nationwide, causing or 75
195	195	contributing to these positions being difficult-to-fill or suffering from high attrition; 76
196	196	(C) Recommendations on incentives, interventions, and other changes to 77
197	197	agency law, policies, or practices to enhance recruitment and retention for those positions; and 78
198	198	(4) Work directly with agency leadership and staff to implement 79
199	199	recommendations proposed in the annual report required under paragraph (3) of this subsection, 80
200	200	or as otherwise necessary to address recruitment and retention issues within District agencies; 81
201	201	Sec. 4. For School Year 2024-2025 and subsequent school years: 82
202	202
203	203	4
204	204
205	205	(1) The Metropolitan Police Department (“MPD”) shall engage a District-based entity to 83
206	206	develop and execute a campaign to encourage District high school-age students to enroll in 84
207	207	MPD’s cadet corps program; 85
208	208	(2) The Department of Corrections (“DOC”) shall engage a District-based entity to 86
209	209	develop and execute a campaign to encourage District high school-age students to pursue a 87
210	210	career as DOC correctional officers; and 88
211	211	(3) The Office of Unified Communications (“OUC”) shall engage a District-based entity 89
212	212	to develop and execute a campaign to encourage District high school-age students to pursue a 90
213	213	career as OUC call takers and call dispatchers; and 91
214	214	(4) The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (“OCME”) shall stand up an internship 92
215	215	program to encourage high school-age students to pursue a career with OCME. 93
216	216	Sec. 5. Fiscal impact statement. 94
217	217	The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the Budget Director as the fiscal impact 95
218	218	statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, approved 96
219	219	October 16, 2006 (12 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1-301.47a). 97
220	220	Sec. 6. Effective date 98
221	221	This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the 99
222	222	Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), a 30-day period of congressional review as 100
223	223	provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 101
224	224	24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(1)), and publication in the District of 102
225	225	Columbia Register. 103