Susan Hartnett

General Treasurer Diossa and members of the Pension Advisory Working Group

My name is Susan L Hartnett LiCSW

I am a retired professional school social worker. I also worked for the state of Rhode Island 5 years ( Dept of Elderly Affairs and DCYF) .In the contract I am seen as a teacher even as my position is different.

I earned my masters in social work from the University of Pennsylvania and completed 23 years working for the North Kingstown Rhode Island school Department.

At 28 years I was able to retire. You asked how the 2011 pension reform law and 2015 settlement impacted me and not having the COLA The impact has adversly effected mec and also my family. Here is my truthful answer.I retired in 2005 because I absolutely had to . There was no choice . These reasons are definitely related to the supposed need for reform that has not proven to be true 12 years later.

when I started in 1982 I had just graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a masters degree in Social Work.. I went to North Kingstown a system that paid into social security . However North Kingstown had only two school social workers for 5,000 students .Later the RI law took away any ratio. I was assigned to North Kingstown High School Davisville Middle School an elementary school and the special education pre school.. Additionally the school system assigned us the duty of being the truant officer which sometimes required going to family court filing truancy petitions regarding students and even parents and guardians . Being a truant officer proved to be a totally different

Officers a different job description than what I was hired to do as a school social worker.II was responsible for addressing the educational and mental health needs of regular education students and special education students along with working with parents and guardians, teachers administrators and support staff. I was member of a multi diisiplinary clinical team including servicing students with IEPs and 504 plans. Part of my job was to address educational and mental health needs by collaborating with Washington County Mental Health Clinic an agency that had community based mental health programs that worked with the schools .collaboratively. I had a large caseload but It was possible to work in multiple schools because we had a Comprehensicive Mental Health Clinic to refer emergency situations to help students and families collaboratively. For this reason it became possible for me to work with such a large caseload. . The Mental Health Clinic handled emergency services for students in crisis collaboration with the schools. I saw the writing on the wall.when things began to change with the then treasuers development of Engage RI which promoted pension reform with her . Washington CountyMental Health Clinic began to lose funding lost funding . Both the director of Family Services RI and the Director of Crossroads RI were part of the Engage RI group. I serviced students who lived in Crossroad Rhode Island transitional housing. They were often at risk and needed the help of the Washington County Mental Health Clinic .Unfortunately the Mental Health Clincic went ‘under’ due to competition for federal community based grants This had never happened before Family Services applied for the grants that Washington County Mental Health had.….This resulted in no emergency services component .The mental health clinic had established working relationships with Bradley and Butler Hospital s (children and adolescents psychiatric hospitals in Rhode Island. The school department collaborated with the hospitals and mental health clinic historically..I often made home visits working with them. Without their their callaboration I had to leave when I reached 28 years and could retire. I knew my community including police mental health ,schools and Family Court. In the last several years Washington county has become known known to have the highest suicide rate in the state and it continues to have that distinction. Family Services is a needed agency but competition caused a serious loss of services from a Comprehensive Mental Health Center that was there to address the risk of suicude . Ultimately Family Services no longer was able to sustain a a sight in Washington County. The question wals why were Crossroads and Family Services part of Engage RI a group who implied our pension needed to be reformed..

It was a dangerous president that resulted to a loss of a Mental Health Clinic the community needed..

A consequence is that without them I had to retire . It also left the system I worked in at risk….An undesired consequence. Affected the whole school community and town as it covered adults as well .

There are many layers to the damage caused by pension reform that implied we with pensions were the problem . We lost a valuable part of the community. I could not survive in my school social work position .Family services had a limited scope.They were not a mental health clinic.

I know this is a long explanation but it is a reality.South County is serviced from Mental Health centers in the northern end of the state .The community is underserved and at risk….I became a school social worker in a time when it was difficult to find a job in a school system. But I survived until retirement I am part of a group of retirees….In previous eras the already retired were never asked to shoulder so much of the cost for the reform.

Now It has been 12 years with out a COLA.

I have responsibilities my sons were in college . One of my sons took 7 years to graduate due to health issues. Parent student loans are still there , Family health issues…are still there . My husband has had two strokes among other serious health issues . To compensate for the loss of income I continued to work in schools that needed school social workers fo social workers on medical leaves and other leaves. I worked temporary jobs I qualified for and at least they were in communities with more school social workers on staff and the collaboration with a mental health clinic.. Most of my husband doctors are in Boston .but not all. I am 70 now and have had two full knee replacements…Honestly….we don’t need a COLA ? ??? I don’t think so. 2013 is too distant just to make 80 percent funded…Why is that the magic number…It isn’t…..The state never put money in the pension even as it proposes to now. There has been no regard for colleagues who are dieing never had the COlA without ever getting their COLA returned.

School systems are more than teachers …It is an education system to support the good work educators do…teaching assistants paraprofessionals school nurses ,psychologists custodians principals specialists…OTs PTs Speech therapists school resource officers also in the pension.

Please consider all of this when you make recommendations.We have all lived thru this. I lived thru this. We in all stages of retirement suffer. …Working past 67 is absolutely unexceptable . Walk in our shoes when you formulate your recommendations…

Do the right thing….I. Am waiting to have my faith restored.

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