When someone calls the county’s 911 center, it’s usually at a time of crisis in their lives. Currently that department is operating significantly below the 18 personnel that they are authorized to have with 11 positions vacant, a situation that may not be resolved for some time due to the training, background investigations and medical screenings involved once the appropriate candidates are found.

“It’s not a comfortable number to say out loud, but I think the board deserves honesty. The public we serve deserves a department that owns where it is and what it plans to fix,”

Forest Rothchild, the new director of Public Safety, told the Lycoming County commissioners at their meeting this week.

Calling the staffing of the center both a challenge and an opportunity, Rothchild noted that these type of issues are not unique to Lycoming County.

“Public safety communication agencies across Pennsylvania, along with the country, are dealing with the same recruitment and retention challenges,” he said.

“The 911 profession requires specialized training, demands 24-hour, seven days a week coverage and carries an emotional weight that is not very evident, that not every candidate is prepared for. It is a hard job to hire for and an even harder one to retain,” he added.

Rothchild then detailed the game plan to resolve the situation, one which is said is “initiating now.”

“We’re going to be recruiting on multiple fronts simultaneously. Positions are being posted via the county website, Indeed, LinkedIn. We are reaching out directly to local colleges, vocational programs. We’re working with PA Career Link, and we’re encouraging our existing team members to refer people from their own networks, because these people are the ones that already know the job and know who’s best to belong in there,” he said.

In addition to posting job listings, Rothchild said that it is also important to tell the story “about what it means to be the first voice someone hears when everything is going wrong.”

“The framing-that first voice they hear-is not meant as a slogan, but it’s the truth of what our telecommunicators do every single shift. It is the lens through which we want candidates to see this career before they even fill out an application. We also want to be clear about the growth path, we want candidates to see this as a career, not just a stop gap,” he said.

Part of that is clearly communicating to candidates the pathways which the department has identified from trainee to telecommunicator to supervisor.

“Candidates who see a future here are ones that are most likely to stay,” Rothchild said.

As for a realistic timeframe, Rothchild said that he needs to be honest, which sometimes frustrates people.

“Hiring someone in 911 takes time. This is not a two-months resolution,” he said.

“Our target is to identify qualified candidates for each of the opening positions. From there, from day 60 to 120-window, with conditional offers, background investigations, medical screenings beginning. These are non-negotiable steps in public safety’s hiring. They protect the county and they protect the public,” he said.

Once the candidate is hired they begin telecommunication training, a process that can span four to six months, he explained. Each new 911 operator must hold nationally recognized certifications before they can handle a live call independently.

“Full operational proficiency, when a new hire can manage a busy shift with confidence, typically takes anywhere from six to 12 months from their start date,” Rothchild said.

“This is the reality of building a competent and complete 911 Center. It’s not a bureaucratic delay. This is what responsible public safety staffing looks like,” he added.

Rothchild also shared that the department is in the middle of an organizational restructure. Some positions are being evaluated and some roles are changing.

“We’re being thoughtful and deliberate on how the department is going to be structured moving forward because the goal is not to just fill seats, but it’s to build a sustainable, well-led operation that serves the county for years to come,” he said.

Rothchild assured the board that restructuring will not affect the plan for recruitment.

“We’re pursuing both efforts in parallel and we are not waiting for every organizational question to be resolved before we bring people through the door,” he said.

He reiterated that the first goal is to have a fully-staffed 911 team “with 18 people in seats, trained and ready to serve the community.”

“That is the target we will not lower. Second, we will not sacrifice quality for speed-every person who goes live on a console in this center will be properly trained and certified. The people who call 911 deserve nothing but the best,” he said.

He pointed out that they are recruiting for the long haul and not just looking to fill vacancies.

“We are looking to add to the family members of this team, people who are going to be the first voice our neighbors hear for years to come,” he added.

The next few months will be spent going through applications, including some from former applicants that they have reached out to again to see if they are interested in beginning the onboarding process. Even if they were to find applicants, there is an attrition rate and some applicants who just don’t make background in the cut.

“It’s also a training reality…you cannot bring all of them on at once because it requires pairing,” he explained.

“Realistically we even have to stagger them so it might be like two this month, two next month and two the following month, and we may have to continue this process indefinitely. We don’t want to burden the current team while doing the onboarding process…it will be several months before we’re able to have qualified and trained personnel in place,” he said.