Department for Community Based Services Commissioner Adria Johnson has a lot on her plate right now.

"I am a firm believer in transparency," she told WKYT's Miranda Combs from her office in the Health and Family Services Cabinet. "I am a firm believer in wanting to hear what's broken. These are the conversations we have to have."

"We're looking at many different options to stabilizing the workforce," Johnson said.

The number of kids coming into the state's care is continuing to climb, and there are less foster homes to put them in. "Capacity is a real issue for us," she said. "We have heard from several foster families that we, the system, don't make it easy to be a resource home."

There has also been an exodus of unhappy social workers. During a legislative committee meeting last month, Rachel Blanford spoke about her challenges as a social worker for thirteen years. "It only takes one bad case to make a worker drown," she said during the hearing.

"I need their voice," Johnson explained. "I need to understand what the practical day to day experience is like for them and where we're getting this wrong."

"It just weighs on you all the time," Blanford told Combs last week from her home in Bardstown. She quit her job with the state last year and started working for more money and less stress.

"So why are so many social workers leaving now?" Combs asked. "I think they have started to realize that there's other opportunities that don't require the same level of work, that pay better, that don't use you up," Blanford explained.

Blanford was emotionally drained when she quit. Her bad days were unforgettable. She recalled pulling up to a home visit not long after her maternity leave: "I saw them carry this sweet little baby out and she was blue and she had already died. It was awful." Blanford said the balance between the daily emotional and mental fatigue, and the benefits of employment with the cabinet just were there. "I guess I wasn't getting what I was putting back in," she said. "It's just feeling unappreciated."

Johnson said changes to keep social workers from leaving are coming. The cabinet is looking at going to shift work. She said that would not only alleviate so much overtime, but it would also make sense considering calls for neglect and abuse don't just come in from nine to five.

They are also looking at allowing social workers to work from home or work remotely, and upgrading current technology. "These are things that can be put into effect sooner rather than later and we can hopefully start to see some change," Johnson said.

Johnson said to recruit new social workers, they are looking at retired police officers since they already have an investigative background.