Quoted Text

ROTTERDAM
ARC looking to expand work force

BY JAMES SCHLETT Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter James Schlett at 395-3040 or jschlett@dailygazette.net.

    Buoyed by Medicaid funds, the Schenectady ARC is looking to hire approximately 50 workers to care for developmentally disabled adults, even as a similar organization in Albany is preparing to lay off a similar number of employees who primarily work with younger clients.
    A day after the Center for Disability Services announced plans to close or cut services at its Clover Patch child care sites in Hudson, Cobleskill, Albany and Glenville — resulting in the dismissal of 51 employees — ARC announced Wednesday it remains in hiring mode despite the recession.
    The Schenectady nonprofit said it is looking to fill a variety of entry-level positions. Many of those positions require different skills and certifications than the jobs CDS will eliminate in June.
    ARC has occupational and educational program centers in Rotterdam and Princetown plus 20 group homes in Schenectady County. In Wednesday’s announcement, the organization noted it offers tuition reimbursement for employee training programs.
    “We’re not looking to steal employees from anyone,” said ARC spokesman Mark DeNofi o.
    CDS spokeswoman Anne Schneider Costigan said CDS is not worried about its workers affected by the closures seeking employment at ARC before June. She said CDS employees who work with disabled children might enjoy working with disabled adults.
    “That would be fine … if that’s the route they want to take,” Schneider Costigan said.
    ARC is looking to boost its ranks amid rising demand for its services, which are geared toward disabled individuals aged 18 and up. Near the Stratton Air National Guard Base in Glenville last year, for example, it opened a group home that must be staffed by several people around the clock.
    While CDS cited mounting program deficits and shrinking government funding for its pending layoffs, DeNofio said the Schenectady nonprofit is not facing those budgetary restraints. Instead, the organization relies more on Medicaid funds and less on fundraising initiatives. ARC is also much smaller than CDS, which employs 2,372 at 85 locations in nine upstate counties.
    ARC cares for over 1,000 families in the county and that number is rising, primarily due to relocation and aging factors, DeNofio said. The Schenectady ARC is one of 57 chapters belonging to NYSARC, a familybased organization that assists individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities.
    ARC’s hiring push comes at a time when Gov. David Paterson is proposing ..............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00603

In other ares of the state the ARC is laying off workers with 10 to 15 years of service and re-hiring new workers at greatly reduced salaries and benefits.

Quoted from Shadow

In other ares of the state the ARC is laying off workers with 10 to 15 years of service and re-hiring new workers at greatly reduced salaries and benefits.

cha-ching!!!!!!!......either they pay the experienced workers at higher rate or less experienced at lower rate and see what the
taxpayer thinks.......