MDHHS caseworkers picket over staffing issues, backlogged cases
Around 40 Michigan Department of Health and Human Services caseworkers held an informational picket Wednesday afternoon, saying the state agency has failed to maintain adequate staffing levels to address a mounting backlog of cases. Without an adequate workforce, caseworkers say, the quality of service given to vulnerable Michiganders isn't suitable to meet their needs.
The picket, which took place outside of a MDHHS branch in Detroit, occurred during most caseworkers' lunch hour. State employees are prohibited by Michigan law to go on strike, but members of UAW chapter Local 6000, which represents the caseworkers, were able to demonstrate during their lunch hours.
Caseworkers and union officials say staffers are facing hundreds of backlogged cases, with a particular influx of cases involving recertification for Medicaid eligibility. Additionally, MDHHS caseworkers assist residents with other state services like food assistance, emergency relief, housing services and more.
The federally declared public health emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic meant state agencies, like MDHHS, had to continue providing Medicaid services to recipients regardless of any changes in their eligibility. When the public health emergency ended in May, it caused a flood of applications from residents seeking to maintain their Medicaid coverage.
The Free Press previously reported that more than 80,500 Michiganders lost their Medicaid coverage in June alone — about 37% of the state's Medicaid recipients whose coverage was scheduled to expire that month. An MDHHS spokesperson noted the expirations weren't directly tied to the staffing issues raised by caseworkers, instead pointing to many recipients failing to submit necessary paperwork in time.
If that pace holds, roughly 1.2 million people statewide could be dropped from Medicaid programs and lose health insurance coverage by May 2024.
Maya Williamson, Local 6000 secretary-treasurer, said caseworkers are expected to process seven calls an hour, something she described as unreasonable and a detriment to the level of service given to Michiganders. MDHHS began implementing a Universal Caseload (UCL) system to handle cases in 2018. Rather than assign cases to a single caseworker, UCL funnels cases to a pool of caseworkers, according to the MDHHS.
"It's turned into a metric-based system, quantity over quality," Williamson said. "And you can't serve a citizen, with everything that's going on, and get (them) the appropriate amount of information in six minutes. It's not feasible."
Demonstrators chanted "Hey! Ho! UCL has got to go!" among other things while marching in front of the office entrance. Ex-MDHHS Director Robert Gordon, who left the agency in 2021, described the UCL's results as "unacceptable" in 2019. At the time, the average percentage of backlogged cases in counties using the UCL system was 32%, and peaked as high as 48%, according to the MDHHS.
In a statement, an MDHHS spokesperson said the department is continuing to ramp up recruitment efforts, and noted the benefits offered by the agency.
"We value the contribution of every MDHHS team member to deliver much-needed assistance to Michigan families. We are all on one team working with one goal: to better serve Michiganders each day. Part of that means delivering competitive pay, premium health care/dental/eye benefits, access to a 401k that has a higher match than most employers and flexibility on work-from-home," Lynn Sutfin, a public information officer for MDHHS, said over email.
"The department has been successful in hiring more staff recently -- thanks to their competitive compensation – which will help ease workload and ensure caseworkers can give their undivided attention to Michiganders who need help. We will continue to make improvements in partnership with UAW Local 6000 and all of our other world-class unions that represent hardworking Michiganders in MDHHS."
One caseworker said the rising caseloads have been coupled with raised expectations from MDHHS management — which prevents staffers from being able to provide residents with the individualized services they need.
"There's no way I can answer the phones, conduct an interview, process an (application) and address the people the way they really need to be addressed," said Darnise Williams, a caseworker at the picketing MDHHS office in Detroit. Williams, who has been a caseworker for the department for 14 years and said she took the job because she enjoys helping people, noted a greater number of caseworkers are feeling burnt out by their work demands, and have left their jobs, exacerbating the staffing and resource issues amidst the rising caseloads.
"There has consistently been more and more added," Williams said of caseloads. "Nothing has been taken away." Making matters worse, Williams said the software caseworkers must use to process cases is constantly crashing.
Kelly Barnett, chapter president of Local 6000, echoed concerns about staffing levels.
"One part of it is the recruitment effort. But I also think that one of the things that the state also needs to do is value the workers ... that are trying to service the citizens of Michigan," Barnett said.
Caseworkers have recently had to work mandatory overtime hours to process paperwork, Williams said. Additionally, union officials say more caseworkers at branch offices have received "memos of expectation" from MDHHS management, which don't address staffing issues but outline the number of cases workers are expected to process.
Union officials said workers at other offices could also hold informational pickets of their own in the coming weeks. The demonstration comes as the UAW continues its strike against the Detroit Three automakers, as well as a separate strike against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
Free Press staff writer Kristen Jordan Shamus contributed to this report.
Contact Arpan Lobo: alobo@freepress.com. Follow him on X (Twitter) @arpanlobo.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: MDHHS caseworkers picket in Detroit in protest of staffing woes
