Boss’ salary goes up as jobs go down

The local children’s aid service is seeing its budget head south while its top manager’s salary has gone north.

The Chatham-Kent Children’s Services (CKCS) budget is being reduced 2% per for the next five years, resulting in layoffs this fiscal year for 12 staff members, according to CKCS CEO Mike Stephens, whose own salary jumped more than $32,000 from 2010-2012.

For 2013-2014, the agency will receive in excess of $21.2 million in funding for child protection from the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, down from last year’s budget of $21.6 million. According to ministry officials in Toronto, the CKCS also required a one-time funding bail out last year of $406,738 to cover an in-year shortfall for child protection.

In comparison, Stephens’ salary increased by 22% in two years to $179,488, as reported in the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act, also known as the sunshine list, which requires publicly funded agencies to report any salaries over $100,000. Stephens is joined by eight other CKCS managers on the list, however those salary increases in the same period were no more than 9%. In fact, two managers’ salaries – manager of legal services and director of corporate services, were cut by approximately $4,000.

According to ministry senior media relations and issues co-ordinator Courtney Battistone, 85% of the CKCS budget comes from the province, and the board of directors sets executive salaries and compensation independent of the province.

CKCS board chair Monica Bacic, when asked for an explanation of Stephens’ salary increase, was tight-lipped on the matter.

“Further to our discussion this morning with regard to the salary of our CEO, the information was provided to the public as required by the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act. Anything beyond that is considered personal information and there is no further comment,” Bacic said in a text message.

This information comes on the heels of a press release from Bacic on Aug. 29 announcing the sudden retirement of Stephens after 13 years with CKCS. While his retirement is effective Oct. 11 of this year, Stephens’ autoreply on his e-mail indicates he will be on holiday until his retirement date.

Bacic, in the release, said the board will begin searching for his replacement immediately and will be announcing an interim CEO shortly.

According to the ministry, officials “routinely conduct on-site reviews of children’s aid societies to better understand cost drivers and opportunities for efficiencies.” This year, the CKCS was one of the agencies chosen for an expenditure management review, and as a result of the findings in the review, the ministry:

• Shared the findings with the board of directors;
• issued a set of service and financial directives to the society;
• is working with the board to identify areas of improvement, including financial accountability; and
• hired a consultant to help CKCS enhance its service delivery model.

The details of the directives are not being made public.

The CKCS, according to Stephens, has approximately 300 staff, of which about 125 are child protection workers.