Caseloads for people working in New Jersey’s social service agencies have increased by nearly a third since 2019 while the workforce to deal with them has decreased by 3.2%, according to a new report from the Communications Workers of America.

The report, “Understaffed and Underfunded: Barriers to Effective Anti-Poverty Resistance,” written by Brittany Holom-Trundy, a senior policy analyst with New Jersey Policy Perspective, is based on survey results from 592 CWA members.

The increased workload and smaller workforce “means more errors, more delays in benefits … everything like that. And honestly, that leads to burnout,” said Holom-Trundy. “Fewer people want to go into that field, fewer people feel supported, fewer people feel like that job can help them support their own families.”

Joanna McWilliams, president of CWA Local 1087 in Monmouth County, said she wasn’t surprised by the report.

“It’s hard to take out loans, maybe pay a car payment, live in New Jersey and earn $42,000 a year,” McWilliams said.

When New Jersey residents try to sign up for programs like SNAP or Medicaid, they deal with social service workers who work for the county. John Donnadio, executive director of the New Jersey Association of Counties, says it’s not easy for counties to bump up salaries to attract more workers.

“These salaries are paid for by property taxpayer dollars, so [leaders] have to be mindful of that,” he said. “And any time you talk about a salary, you have to factor into significant health benefit expenses and pension health benefit expenses, which add about fifty to sixty percent.”

Donnadio said that some counties have considered privatizing part of their social service departments to save money.