HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 04-15-2008-3cORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: April 15, 2008
Action Agenda
Item No. ~ - ~
SUBJECT: NCACC Outstanding County Program Awards Presentation
DEPARTMENT: County Manager PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) No
ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT:
NCACC Press Release Laura Blackmon, 245-2300
PURPOSE: To present the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC)
Outstanding County Program Awards for Orange County's (1) Spanish Language Assessment
Tool and (2) Inspect Plus field computer initiative.
BACKGROUND: The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC)
sponsors the Outstanding County Program Awards which honors counties for their support of
excellence. The intent of the award is to recognize programs that involve a uniquely innovative
process, solution or idea to address a county or multi jurisdictional issue and/or prevent a future
problem from developing. Awards are presented in three major areas -Public
Information/Participation, Human Services, and General Government, and the major criteria for
awards are: innovation, success, effort and difficulty, and collaboration.
Orange County has been notified that two County initiatives are award winners for 2007 in the
area of General Government. Representatives from the NCACC will attend the meeting to
acknowledge the programs and staff, including Shoshannah Smith and Marlyn Henriquez
Valeiko with the Office of Human Rights and Relations, for the Spanish Language Assessment
Tool, and Susan Mellott, Building Services Manager and Dan Bruce, Permit Systems Analyst,
for the Inspect Plus field computer initiative. An NCACC press release on the awards is
attached.
Highlights of Spanish Language Assessment Tool
In 2005, Orange County recognized that its Spanish-speaking population was nearing the, 5% or
1,000 residents threshold necessary to require access to services under Title VI of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964. According to a departmental survey, the County served an average of
20,640 Latinos per year. The purpose of the Spanish Assessment Tool is to further
accessibility of all County services to Spanish-speaking residents by helping assure that County
employees have sufficient knowledge of the language and culture of the Spanish-speaking
community to communicate effectively.
The project was designed over several years, and ultimately funded and established during the
period from March 2006-August 2006, using HUD grant monies. The total cost of development
and utilization of the tool was $10,000, which includes ongoing technical support from the
County's Spanish-language partner organization. Development involved collaboration among
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the Orange County Board of Commissioners, the County Manager's Office, the Office of Human
Rights and Relations, the Department of Social Services, the Department of Health, and the
Chapel Hill Institute for Cultural and Language Education (CHICLE). CHICLE was selected
because it is a locally owned and respected firm, the County had an established relationship
with it for purposes of training and translation, and its staff had the knowledge, experience, and
credentials to create the necessary Tool. To date, a total of 24 County employees have
voluntarily participated in the Spanish Assessment Tool.
Highlights of Inspect Plus
On November 1, 2007, the Orange County Building Inspectors went paperless in the field. Dan
Bruce of the Inspections Division developed and implemented new software that was installed
on ruggedized laptops for the Inspections staff to process inspection results in the field. The
`Inspect Plus' software serves as a bridge to the permitting software, `Permits Plus', that was
purchased in 2001. `Inspect Plus' imports permit data and exports inspection data back to
`Permits Plus' through this implementation and has accomplished the following goals:
® Reduction of paper in the permitting and inspections process by 70%
® Saved staff time by eliminating duplicate data entry
a Increased efficiency of staff time to allow completion of more inspections per day
® Maintenance of the Emergency Services/911 GPS addressing project
® Increased communication with permit holders and contractors and improved
consistency of inspection code interpretation thorough use of electronic code
information and through expanded use of tables, charts and code commentary to
support code interpretation
® Collects detailed inspections data for use to provide for contractor training seminars
on typical code deficiencies.
The field computers using the `Inspect Plus' software have allowed staff to improve customer
service, staff efficiency, communication and public safety through sharing of data through the
enterprise GIS and 'Permits Plus' (Orange County permitting software) systems.
FINANCIAL. IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with the presentation of the
NCACC awards to the County.
RECOMMEIVDATIOId(S): The Manager recommends that the Board accept the awards and
commend staff for its efforts on these initiatives.'
N O R T H C A R O L I N A
ASSOCIATION OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
FOR IlVIlVIEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Todd McGee, (919) 715-7336
April 15, 2008 todd.mc~ee(a~ncacc.or~
Orange County programs win statewide award
Orange County has won two statewide awards from the North Carolina Association of County
Commissioners. The Orange County Inspect Plus program and the Orange County Spanish Language
Assessment Tool were two of 12 county programs from around the state to win a 2007 Outstanding
County Program Award from the NCACC.
The Inspect Plus program is an in-house developed software program. In November, the program enabled
Orange County building inspectors to go paperless in the field, reducing by more than 1,000 the sheets of
paper used each week for inspections requests and documentation. The program enables inspectors to
spend more time in the field each day by eliminating the need for return trips to the office to enter data
and print reports.
Inspectors now process inspections results in the field on laptops. The laptops are docked in the
inspector's vehicle and also provide electronic maps to properties using the county's GIS. The laptops
also are installed with all of the N.C. State Building, Plumbing, Electrical and Mechanical codes. An
inspector can attach the relevant code to the inspection if further explanation is needed.
With a growing Hispanic population, Orange County leaders recognized several years ago that the county
needed a way to assess the abilities of its employees and volunteers to speak, write and translate Spanish.
Working with the Chapel Hill Institute of Cultural and Language Education (CHICLE), the county
developed a Spanish Proficiency Assessment Tool.
The purpose of the assessment tool is to further accessibility to all county services for Spanish-speaking
residents by helping assure that County employees have sufficient knowledge of the language and culture
of the Spanish-speaking community to communicate effectively. In the first year of the program, 36
county employees volunteered to go through the assessment.
The intent of the Outstanding County Program Awards is to recognize and share information with other
counties about programs that involve a uniquely innovative process, solution or idea to address a county .
or multi jurisdictional issue and/or to prevent a future problem from developing. More than 50 programs
in three categories -Public Information/Participation, General Government and Human Services -were
nominated for the 2007 awards. These programs were two of five General Government winners.
"Counties in North Carolina are facing many challenges, and this awards program is a great way to
highlight some of the outstanding work being done by our counties," said. NCACC Executive Director
David F. Thompson: "As the demands being placed on county governments become more complex,
counties are forced to fmd new solutions to old problems. This awards program is a way to bring attention
to excellent programs that other counties might want to emulate."
For more information, contact Orange County Manager Laura Blackmon at (919) 245-2306. For more
information on the Outstanding County Program Awards, contact Todd McGee, NCACC
Communications Director, at (919) 715-7336 or todd.mcgee(a,ncacc.org.
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The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) is the official voice of all 100 counties on
issues being considered by the General Assembly, Congress and federal and state agencies. The Association
provides expertise to counties in the areas of lobbying, fiscal and legal research, communications,
intergovernmental relations, information technology, field visits and risk management services.
P.O. Box 1488, Raleigh, NC 27602-1488 * Phone: (919) 715-2893 * Fax: (919) 733-1065 * www.ncacc.org