SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — Sullivan County is currently in the process of finding new jobs for the county employees of the Adult Care Center (ACC), after it was announced that the facility would be closing down. While not all workers at the facility were employed by the county (some were employed by staffing agencies), there are 86 county employees for whom the county is helping find new work.

The county is offering two paths for its employees. One path is to find a job outside of the county government, with the Center for Workforce Development (CWD) offering help to those employees seeking to enter the private sector. The other path is to work with Sullivan County Human Resources and find another position within the county.

Regardless of which path employees choose, the county has expressed its commitment to helping them walk it. County manager Joshua Potosek said, “Care center staff are working tirelessly to find new homes for residents under their care, and we want to be sure to find new employment opportunities for them when their jobs are complete.”

The ACC job fair

To help employees find a job outside of the county, CWD held a job fair for ACC staff on September 1. That job fair was requested by the county legislature and the county manager’s office.

Community Resources Commissioner Laura Quigley, who organized the fair and oversees the CWD, said in an interview that about 42 employees attended the event, which was held at the ACC and was open to only ACC employees.

In preparing for the fair, Quigley used contacts from her time as director of CWD and began reaching out to places to participate. Quigley said that getting them to participate was “not tough” because of vacancies in the field.

“Health care is our largest industry,” Quigley said. “It’s got the most jobs. There are so many openings still that they still can’t fill. So I didn’t have one person say ‘no.’ Everybody jumped right on board.”

Those companies that participated in the fair include Achieve Rehabilitation and Nursing, the ARC of Greater Hudson Valley, The Center for Discovery, New Hope Community, Roscoe Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, A&T Healthcare, Always Compassionate Health and Valley View Center, according to a release from the county. The Office for the Aging was present to do interviews with a few employees as well.

Quigley said that she thought it was important that Valley View was there, as they are an Orange County-owned nursing home, so it is a part of the same retirement system as the ACC, offering those employees who are further along in their career the opportunity to stay in the system.

Quigley said that due the success of this first one, and the high volume of both employees and employers that wanted to participate, the county will be holding another job fair in the coming weeks to accommodate everyone.

Quigley also said that the fair is not limited to health care, as Sullivan County BOCES has expressed interest in participating in the job fair to hire teacher aides. She said that if employees “want to go into a different field, they can look at that.”

The fair was well received.

“All the feedback I’ve gotten was very positive,” Quigley said. Employers “were very sad to see the adult care [center] going because they know it’s less service, but they were also very happy to have been able to be a part of it and hopefully to scoop up some of the good employees.”

Legislator Amanda Ward, who also works for The Center of Discovery as the Chief of People Operations and Educational Sustainability, was present and thanked Quigley during the September 3 meeting of the Sullivan County Legislature’s Economic Development Committee.

“It was absolutely incredible,” Ward said. “It was seamless. It was so professional… everyone was just so kind and really there for the staff.”

Deputy county manager Michelle Bowers, who was present along with Potosek at the job fair, also thanked Quigley on behalf of the entire county manager’s office during the committee meeting.

“You guys set that up so fast for us and got as many businesses as you could in there. It went great and the staff were very happy about it so thank you to you and your CWD staff,” Bowers said.

Quigley expressed confidence that the county’s efforts to find new places for employment for people will be successful. Quigley said that because the ACC staff have highly transferable skills, and that employers across the county are looking for employees with those skills, she feels confident that any employee who wants one will be able to find a job.

“I believe that all of them will find work,” Quigley said.

Staying with the county

For those who want to stay in the county, the process is more differentiated, and more individualized.

“I think everyone has a different path and different goals,” human resources commissioner Julie Diescher said in an interview.

Diescher started off the process of relocating people within the county by meeting with the staff one-on-one to discuss their goals, what they are doing, what they would like to be doing, and how best the county can help them accomplish their goals. Diescher estimated that she met with 54 so far on September 3.

Diescher has said that these conversations are very different, with some employees wanting to take desk jobs or even go back to school to get more education. Diescher said that she was open to all of it, just letting herself go in with an open mind and letting the employees steer the direction of their careers.

“I just went in wide open,” Diescher said. “Look, this is not my ride. This is your ride. So, help me get you in the seat in the direction you want to go in.”

Diescher also said that due to the county currently having a hiring freeze, the county is monitoring the amount of vacancies and not allowing outside applications. This means that ACC applicants have top priority for current vacancies and positions. Diescher also talked with the county manager’s office to see if vacant positions in Liberty could be freed up.

“I said ‘Is there any way? I know there’s a couple positions on hold across the street from the care center. Is there any way that we could free them up to make sure that these four applicants that are vying for one position could vie for the three that are total?’ And they’re like, ‘absolutely.’”

Diescher did qualify this by saying that the applicant still needs to be qualified and a good fit for the position, saying she didn’t want to “strong-arm” anyone.

“Ideally we want it to be the best fit with the right person, and you know, if the puzzle fits, that’s amazing.”