Supes may add more hiring bonuses

Behavioral Health on Tuesday's agenda

After approving multiple hiring and referral bonuses over the past several months in an effort to bolster staffing, Butte County has three more on the docket.

In its upcoming meeting on Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors will be considering new incentives for the Behavioral Health Department. The first is a temporary hiring bonus for what is labeled in the staff report as specific emergency and forensic classifications, while two others relate to retention and to referrals.

For the former, the staff report says that “staff recruitment and subsequent retention for Behavioral Health positions in the Emergency and Forensic Programs have presented an ongoing challenge for Butte County for several years despite traditional efforts to find and keep staff. Additionally, the lack of adequate staffing associated with recruitment difficulties and turnover has continued to add to the burden on current employees.”

The department is recommending that the board approve hiring bonuses of up to $10,000 per hire with the total cost of the program coming out to $110,000, which will be paid for via salary savings and budgeted program funds.

A second item to provide $2,000 longevity bonuses for employees who stay for two years will also be considered by the board, with this program coming out to $74,000 and from the same funding sources.

Lastly, a referral bonus program will be considered to provide $1,000 to employees who refer a new applicant who is successfully hired.

“There is an opportunity to leverage informal word-of-mouth recruiting by providing an incentive for current employees to encourage friends, family members, acquaintances, and outside agency colleagues to apply for Butte County Behavioral Health Emergency and Forensic positions,” the related staff report reads. “The goal of this program is to increase the wealth of talent the county employs and mitigate