The Shasta County Sheriff鈥檚 office has struggled to keep workers at the jail, citing low pay and low morale.
At a county supervisor meeting Tuesday, Support Services Director Monica Fugitt said they鈥檝e been working with the sheriff鈥檚 office to expand recruitment efforts.
鈥淚n whole it鈥檚 been a very collaborative effort between our office and the sheriff鈥檚 office to try to make these changes, to try to look at improvements," she said.
County Supervisors approved a pay increase for one of the lowest paid positions in the jail, called Public Safety Service Officers. These workers don鈥檛 have direct responsibility over people in the jail, and help with things like processing, security and scheduling.
These positions currently , but that鈥檚 being increased by an extra $2 dollars with this raise.
County Supervisor Tim Garman said they should also be looking at adding a hiring bonus as well.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e talking about with these PSSO鈥檚 is young adults getting into the workforce, where maybe that small hiring bonus would mean a little bit more than it would to somebody a little older who鈥檚 just changing careers," Garman said.
Correctional deputy positions do come with sign-on bonuses, but those jobs require more training. An entry-level correctional deputy can earn a $5,000 sign-on bonus, and someone with existing training could qualify for $15,000. from around $26 to $35 hourly.
Fugitt said the increase for Public Safety Service officers still leaves a gap between that position and correction deputies, to encourage promotion to better positions in the future.
She's hoping this will help fill out the vacant positions, only one out of the six are currently filled.
