Some Wisconsin healthcare workers have had to push back their start dates due to backlogging in the state's licensing department, Fox affiliate WITI reported Sept. 13. Others have left the state, looking for work while hoping not to encounter similar delays.
Delays in licensing approval can take six to nine months, causing "lost job opportunities" and "financial stress," Marc Herstand, executive director of the Wisconsin chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, told the news station.
Wisconsin's Department of Safety and Professional Services attributes the long wait times to short staffing caused by underfunding.
"We have been eminently clear in our budget proposals that the department is not staffed adequately for the volume and complexity of work we handle," Greg Cieslewicz, a spokesperson for the department, told the news station.