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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 20090210 1 APPROVED 3/17/2009 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS JOINT MEETING WITH BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES February 10, 2009 5:30 p.m. The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a joint meeting with the Social Services Board on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. at the Link Government Services Center in Hillsborough, NC. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Valerie P. Foushee, and Commissioners Pam Hemminger, Barry Jacobs, Bernadette Pelissier, and Steve Yuhasz COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Mike Nelson and Alice Gordon COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES: Joe Robbins, Pat Garavaglia, DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES STAFF PRESENT: Director Nancy Coston COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Laura Blackmon, Assistant County Managers Willie Best and Gwen Harvey, and Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below) Commissioner Nelson and Commissioner Gordon were not able to attend due to schedule conflicts. NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. 1. Introductions Chair of the Social Services Board Joe Robbins said that the DSS Board thrives on direction from the Board of County Commissioners. He said that DSS is coming under fire these days because of the demand for services. Some things that affect the budget include: need for emergency financial assistance, increased adoption and foster care costs, growing number of food and nutrition cases, EMS assistance program, ending of the Work First demonstration grant, program expansion in Health Choice, growth overtime and child welfare expenses, growth in food stamp distribution, growth in Medicaid cases (7% over the last year), and growth in DSS clients (11%). He said that the DSS staff is excellent. 2. Purpose of Meeting Social Services Director Nancy Coston said that she is just going to try to sustain the effort and plan for the growth without inundating the staff. She made a PowerPoint presentation Social Services Board-BOCC Joint Meeting •Introductions •Purpose of Meeting •Background Information •Current Recipient and Workload Statistics 1 2 •Information on State and Federal Funds •Summary of Relevant Stimulus Proposals .Plan and Action Steps .Plan Discussion •Closing Remarks Background Information: Current Recipient and Workload Statistics Food and Nutrition Services •Increased 12% for the current fiscal year •Increasing at an average rate of 1.7% per month Month Caseload July 3120 August 3203 September 3249 October 3293 November 3360 December 3433 January 3497 Background Information: Current Recipient and Workload Statistics Food and Nutrition Services (graph) - Increased more than 120% since 2000-01 Background Information: Current Recipient and Workload Statistics Medicaid Programs •Increased 3.7% for the current fiscal year •Increasing at an average rate of .5% per month Month Caseload July 5864 August 5864 September 5948 October 6062 November 6043 December 6067 January 6082 Background Information: Current Recipient and Workload Statistics Medicaid Programs (graph) - Increased 81% since 2000-01 Background Information: Current Recipient and Workload Statistics Emergency Assistance Programs 2 3 •Approximately 500 more people received some type of emergency assistance during the first 7 months this year than the same period last year. •More federal money was available in the Crisis Intervention Program •January recipient numbers for CIP increased 108% over the same time last year. The EA program has seen recipient increases of 46% and the GA program has seen increases of 26% for the same time period. Background Information: Current Recipient and Workload Statistics Emergency Assistance Programs (table) Background Information: Other Impacted Programs •When economic conditions worsen for families, social work services, both preventative and reactive, become necessary. The agency is already managing large caseloads in the following program areas and may see increases related to the economy: •Foster Care— 145 children in custody •Child Care Subsidy— Serving 758 children, 283 waiting •Prevention Social Work— Serving 1198 children •Adult Services • Background Information: Information on State and Federal Funds State Changes •Proposed Cuts •State Aid to Counties-$9,600 cut in this year's budget and a $58,000 cut in FY09-10 •Home and Community Care Block Grant (HCCBG) •Proposed Increases •Funding for the Work First Demonstration Grant is expected to continue using TANF Contingency Funds •Administrative costs for child care subsidy are expected to increase from 4 to 5%. Background Information: Information on State and Federal Funds Other Budget Impacts •Proposed federal legislation related to SCHIP (NC Health Choice) will increase income limits to 300% of poverty. This is likely to go into effect quickly and would likely double the current number of Orange County Health Choice recipients. •Regulation changes in foster care at the state level, including a rate increase and direct payment provisions, will cause a budgetary increase for the county of approximately $100,000. Background Information: Summary of Relevant Stimulus Proposals •$2 billion dollar increase for child care subsidy for two years .5% increase in IV-E reimbursements •Food and Nutrition benefit allotment increase 13%with additional target groups identified. Includes administrative funds. •Contingency funds increased. 3 4 •At-Risk funding moratorium extended. •FNS ABAWD restriction ends through 2010. Background Information: Summary of Relevant Stimulus Proposals •$1 billion increase in LIHEAP. •SSI recipients receive a one-time payment that would not count toward public assistance eligibility. ($450/individual, $630/couple) •Dislocated Worker provision would allow Medicaid coverage for people involuntarily separated from work and currently receiving or out of unemployment benefits. Administration for the program is 100% covered by the federal government. 3. Plan and Action Steps Proposed Plan and Action Steps 1. Utilize Temporary Staff and Reassigned Staff to manage workload until June. •Allow reassignment of staff time from non-mandated program areas to assist in other areas while maintaining current services. (e.g. Veterans' Services, Justice Partnership, Skills Development Center) •Allow extension of current temporary staff through June 30th utilizing temporary funds from Human Resources budget or critical needs fund. •Waive all DSS positions from hiring delays and extra paperwork. 2. Prepare for increased population and new programs by creating new time-limited positions •Create one position effective immediately for the current increases in Food and Nutrition Services and Health Choice using critical needs funding. •Create an additional time-limited position to handle ongoing cases effective July 1, 2009 with an option to create additional positions for each 500 new cases added in public assistance programs. At the current rate, we estimate that to be 1 new position every 6 months. Stimulus provisions could alter that number and provide administrative funds. 3. Designate $100,000 in critical needs funding to supplement the agency's current fiscal year budget for emergency assistance services. Add an additional $300,000 to the FY2009-10 budget for emergency assistance. 4. Solicit Volunteers to assist agency and families and develop networks to assist families in stress. 5. Prepare and disseminate public information on available services, eligibility criteria, and alternative ways to access them. Work with other human services organizations to conduct outreach and education. Utilize county website. Complete electronic file program so that staff can share information on clients among agency programs and sites. 6. Prioritize IT funding for Human Services' needs that improve service delivery and increase worker effectiveness. 7. Work with the county and nonprofits to effectively allocate resources to target populations most affected by economic crises. •Organize a meeting with relevant nonprofits to look for ways to meet demand and combine resources. 4 5 •Assist the county in determining related nonprofit funding allocations to eliminate redundancy and increase program effectiveness for targeted populations. 8. Streamline any agency or county procedure that affects issuance of emergency or ongoing benefits for clients. 9. Find additional interviewing space at Whitted and Southern Human Services until new building is available. 10. Work with Food Bank on possibility of onsite food distribution. Chair Foushee made reference to reassigning people and said that several County Commissioners have gotten calls from people who are concerned that there is a threat of service reduction, specifically Veteran Services. Nancy Coston said that her proposal is not to cut this out but to see if the Veterans Services Officer could help with some of the public assistance on veterans. She said that she is going to ask for a new position to help with the 500 additional cases by May 1St. She said that DSS is slower because of the increased caseload. 4. Plan Discussion Nancy Coston asked for feedback from the Board of County Commissioners. Commissioner Pelissier asked for more information on the budget and how much of an increase is expected. She said that at the County Commissioners' retreat they said that the social services safety net is the most crucial priority, but she cannot calculate what it means to the operating budget. Nancy Coston said that the Social Services Board has to review the budget first, by law. She said that she is trying to take the department cuts that have been requested by the Manager. She said that she will not be able absorb the $300,000 for emergency assistance in her budget and she is not sure what to do. She said that one of the problems is with the administration costs. DSS gets 50% back from the state/federal funds, so a $30,000 cut would only result in a $15,000 cut for the County. Commissioner Pelissier said that she does not see DSS making the same level of cuts that other departments make. Commissioner Jacobs said that he would like to see an attempt of the DSS Board to tell the County Commissioners the priority items for funding in case hard choices need to be made. He said that Congressman Price wants anecdotal recommendations from the local level and Nancy Coston said that she could send something in writing. Commissioner Jacobs asked for an update on Hillsborough Commons and Nancy Coston said they should be moving in July or August. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the library and Laura Blackmon said that it is about the same timeframe, July or August. Commissioner Jacobs suggested waiting a few months to move out to save some money. Commissioner Jacobs said that the County Commissioners have heard several times from one non-profit that wants to be in this building with DSS and Nancy Coston said that there is a meeting set. Chair Foushee said that staff is working on a response to the letter. Commissioner Jacobs said that the County subsidizes the Urgent Home Repair Program with money that used to come out of the Critical Needs Reserve. If the energy efficient money could be used to help people make houses weather proof, then some money could be saved from the Urgent Home Repair Fund. 5 6 Nancy Coston said that JOCCA has weatherization money now and she can look into this. Commissioner Jacobs said that he is interested in the veterans issue and it looks as if there will be a steady stream of veterans coming back to the country and he wants to continue to make the statement in Orange County that it is a priority. He does not want to diminish the commitment to veterans. Nancy Coston said that the emergency assistance in general is in the safety net and she is looking at the policy for this. She would welcome feedback in this area. Chair Foushee asked Nancy Coston to talk about the waiting list for childcare subsidies because less than 16 months ago there were no children on the waiting list, and now there are 283 children on the waiting list. Nancy Coston said that DSS received $4.7 million for this, but there are 273 children on the list now. There are also Smart Start funds. The waiting list is first come-first served. The people on the waiting list are full-time employed parents and are income-eligible, which is about 200% of the federal poverty level. She will continue to try to serve as many as she can. Orange County has the highest market rate for childcare in North Carolina. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to bullet 5 on the last page and asked if low- income areas were targeted for letting people know about the services that are offered through DSS. Nancy Coston said that this has not been done as much as needed. This is why outreach is in the proposed next action plan and steps. 5. Closing Remarks Joe Robbins said that DSS has a strong relationship with their Friends group. He said that the DSS Board is very proud of Nancy Coston because she was appointed by Representative Joe Hackney to be on a State board to review social services. Chair Foushee thanked the Friends of DSS for the contributions during the holidays. Sharron Hinton said that the Orange County Toy Chest had an enormous amount of people for the week, around 1,600. This was a very successful event and over 2,000 toys were given out. Discussion ensued on obtaining private subsidies for childcare services. Chair Foushee said that Commissioner Nelson and Commissioner Gordon expressed regrets for not being able to attend. The meeting was adjourned at 7:08 PM. Valerie Foushee, Chair Donna S. Baker, CMC Clerk to the Board 6