Program History

The mission of the OSFC Recruitment and Retention Program is to develop, implement, and sustain a commonwealth-wide recruitment and retention program for the Pennsylvania fire service and assist in accessing various services in the commonwealth.

This will be done through multi-agency collaboration, leadership, education/training, and research.

Individuals who are entering this discipline are of all ages and backgrounds and require the knowledge and tools to remain and/or sustain the staffing to provide services to the public. The attrition rate is greater than the rate of the those entering the service. There is a significant need for qualified, skilled individuals.

Act 91, 2020

Act 91, 2020 amended Title 35 to make the Office of the State Fire Commissioner responsible to assist with commonwealth-wide recruitment and retention efforts and provide technical assistance to local fire organizations and local governments. This amendment also established that the program would provide regional technical advisors which will assist in other subject areas such as loans, grants, mergers, consolidations, and/or regionalization and develop, implement, and deliver recruitment and retention training programs, promote public education and community risk reduction (CRR) efforts as well as best practices for system improvements.

2022 OSFC Fact Sheet (PDF)