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Home My WebLink AboutMinutes 03-15-2012 Early APPROVED 5/1/2012 MINUTES Orange County Board of County Commissioners Social Services Board Joint Meeting March 15, 2012 5:30 PM The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Joint Work Session with the Department of Social Services on Thursday, March 15, 2012 at 5:30 p.m. in the Link Government Services Center, in Hillsborough, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Bernadette Pelissier and Commissioners Valerie P. Foushee, Pam Hemminger, Barry Jacobs, Earl McKee, and Steve Yuhasz COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Alice Gordon COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: Assistant County Managers Gwen Harvey and Michael Talbert, and Deputy Clerk to the Board David Hunt (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below) COUNTY STAFF ABSENT: County Manager Frank Clifton SOCIAL SERVICES BOARD PRESENT: Chair Pat Garavaglia, Albert Williams and Claire Millar SOCIAL SERVICES STAFF PRESENT: Nancy Coston, Denise Shaffer, Lindsey Shewmaker, Sharron Hinton and Joyce Lee Chair Pelissier called the meeting to order at 5:36 PM. She said that Commissioner Jacobs would be arriving about 6:30 and that Commissioner Gordon would be unable to attend. 1. Introductions Introductions were made. 2. Povertv Statistics and Public Assistance Data Lindsey Shewmaker made a PowerPoint presentation. BOCC — DSS Board Joint Meeting Orange County Department of Social Services March 15, 2012 Agenda • Introductions • Poverty Statistics and Public Assistance Data • Emerging Issues • Success Stories • Hot Topics Poverty in Orange County 'I • According to data from the American Community Survey, in 2010: • 19,702 Orange County residents lived in poverty (16.3%) • 4,137 children in Orange County lived in poverty (15.5%) • 931 elderly adults in Orange County lived in poverty (7.8%) Poverty by Census Tract in Orange County (map) Orange County Safety Net • Safety net provides support for low-income families • Safety net programs run by Social Services include: Food and Nutrition Services, Medicaid, Work First, Child Care Subsidy, Energy Programs, Crisis Assistance • Safety net support extends beyond federal poverty threshold to include families up to 200% of poverty Medicaid • Current number of Medicaid cases is 7,639 (January), a 4% increase over last year • Next year local medical providers are expected to receive $90,701,429 on behalf of Orange County residents Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) • The number of families receiving FNS benefits is 6,129 (January), an 11% increase over last year • Local grocers are expected to receive $21,195,859 in FNS benefits from Orange County families in FY2012-13 200% of Poverty and FNS Households (map) Families Receiving Food and Nutrition Services • Anne, 87, collects $1021/month in Social Security and lives in a house that is paid for. Her benefits are $16/month. • Sam receives $864/month in Social Security Disability and pays $300/month in rent. His benefits are $51/month. • Tonya, a single mother of one, earns $8.50/hour and pays $400/month in rent. Her benefits are $119/month. • Bill and Mary have two children. Bill is unemployed, Mary earns minimum wage, and the family pays $500/month in rent. Their benefits are $540/month. 3. Emerqinq Issues i) Work Support Strategies ii) North Carolina Families Accessing Services through Technology (NC FAST) � Work Support Strategies • Policy simplification and alignment • Retention of eligible families • Increased use of performance data • Holistic view of family • New roles for staff North Carolina Families Accessing Services through Technology (NC FAST) • State automation solution for DSS programs • Allows online applications • Client information available across all programs • Provides tools to manage caseloads • Reduces likelihood of error through automated calculation of eligibility • PerFormance issues are possible during implementation Child Care and Smart Start • Social Services administered the Smart Start subsidy for FY 2011-12 • The consolidation of child care subsidy funds has reduced overall administrative costs and provided a seamless program for eligible Orange County children • The state estimate for child care subsidy for next year is anticipated to be reduced. Social Services is working to assure there will be no interruption in these services for children • The waiting list has been cleared Child Welfare • Because of intensive social work services, more children are able to remain in their own homes, resulting in fewer children in social services' custody • Children are achieving permanence more quickly • Continued collaboration with the juvenile court system has resulted in better outcomes for children and families Aging —Social Services Collaboration • A DSS social worker is out-posted at each Orange County Senior Center • Agencies are sharing county funds to support adult day care in the community • Worked together to provide Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program to low-income Orange County residents Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing Program (HPRP) - Prevention 76% - Rapid Rehousing 24% Hot Topics • Proposed Coordination of Community Drug Court and Justice Partnership Activities • Work Force Development Board Alignment • Medicaid Transportation • Guardianships • Social Services Budget Forecast Commissioner Hemminger asked if students were taken into account regarding poverty levels and Lindsey Shewmaker said that when it is broken down by census track, it becomes more evident who is living where. This particular count does not take into account people living in institutions, including dormitories. Discussion ensued about how it is tedious to figure out the poverty level when there are so many students in the area. Commissioner McKee said that his concern is that this will take focus away from the people that the County should be serving. Albert Williams with the DSS Board arrived at 5:52 PM. The NC FAST online program should be ready by September. The staff is being trained at this time. This has been promised for about 10-15 years. 4. Success Stories Denise Shaffer shared some success stories. She said that with some Smart Start funds, they were able to clear the waiting list for child care. Regarding Child Welfare, there is a significant difference in the number of children in custody. It is usually about 135-150 and it is now around 100 children as of January. The County was also able to assist in funding for housing for residents in need. Sharron Hinton continued highlighting the various programs of Social Services. 5. Hot Topics Nancy Coston went through the Hot Topics. Social Services is looking at a better way to work out the community drug court. Regarding Medicaid Transportation, the Social Services was told last year that there would be an RFP put out for a private provider Regarding guardianships, Mental Health is going to be transferring effective April 1 S'to Social Services. Commissioner Yuhasz asked if this would require new or different staff. Nancy Coston said that this is happening right now. Nancy Coston said that there is some unpleasant budget information forthcoming. The TANF grant is a $302,000,000 block grant for North Carolina. It is primarily used for Work First and child care. There will be some cuts in this funding. 6. Messaqe from the Social Services Board Chair Social Services Board Chair Pat Garavaglia thanked the staff for presenting the situation. She said that this is another year of high demand for services. Each month there is a new all-time high for Medicaid and food and nutrition cases with the same number of staff. Employees are struggling to keep up with the demand. There have been impacts on perFormance data and staff morale. She thinks that staff morale is at an all-time low at the agency. The staff has not seen a salary change in three years. Pat Garavaglia said that there is pending legislation for the General Assembly, which is Senate Bill 433, which allows but does not mandate changes in Social Services at the local level. The Social Services Board would encourage the Board of County Commissioners to NOT support this bill locally. Chair Pelissier said that Social Services represent a constituency that does not come to Board of County Commissioners' meetings. She said that what this board does is very important. She expressed appreciation for the work of the Social Services Board and staff. Commissioner Foushee said that she does not support this proposed bill. 7. Closinq Remarks The meeting was adjourned at 6:52 p.m. Bernadette Pelissier, Chair Donna S. Baker, CMC Clerk to the Board