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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDSS Board minutes 022216MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES February 22, 2016 1 THE ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES MET ON MONDAY: February 22, 2016 at the Hillsborough Commons, Hillsborough, North Carolina. BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES MEMBERS PRESENT: Tamara Dempsey-Tanner, Chair; Ann Wilkerson; Earl McKee and Pat Garavaglia. GUEST: None. BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES MEMBERS ABSENT: Claire Millar. STAFF PRESENT: Nancy Coston, Director; Lindsey Shewmaker, Human Services Manager; Denise Shaffer, Assistant Director; Sharron Hinton, Human Services Manager. I. Call to Order and Introductions DSS Chair, Tamara Dempsey-Tanner, called the meeting to order at 4:04 pm. II. Board Comments None. III. Public Comments None. IV. Agenda Changes None. V. Action Items On a motion by Pat Garavaglia, the Board approved the minutes of December 19, 2015. Earl McKee seconded the motion. The motion was carried without dissent. VI. Items for Discussion and/or Decision 1. Job Classification Study Nancy Coston explained that the county has started on a job and classification study and will be reviewing the positions in Social Services, especially in public assistance which is where the agency has made a lot of changes. Tamara Dempsey-Tanner asked whether the study involves salary adjustments. Ms. Coston replied that the study might result in salary increases but should not result in any salary decreases if positions are reclassified. Earl McKee asked whether salary compression was an issue at Social Services. Ms. Coston responded that it is a major issue at the agency and HR is looking at salary compression across the county. MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES February 22, 2016 2 Ann Wilkerson asked which positions HR was focused on. Ms. Coston responded that it is particularly off in areas related to NC FAST since the hiring processes were changed but classifications not updated accordingly. 2. ABAWD Update Nancy Coston updated the Board on employment efforts related to able-bodied adults without dependents who are at-risk of losing their Food and Nutrition Services benefits. Sharron Hinton noted that county staff are still holding information sessions but few clients have attended. Earl McKee stated that people are likely to come out of the woodwork in April once they feel the impact. 3. Budget Presentation Nancy Coston presented the proposed Social Services budget for FY2016-17. Highlights include child care payment changes, revenue decreases in Work First and child welfare, increased expenditures in temporary and seasonal staff, and a decreased request for county child care dollars due to increased state funding. One of the major budget increases is in contract services for in- home aide services. This will increase the wages of aides working for these companies to the living wage. Earl McKee recommended the agency encourage the providers to accept a standard rate. Tamara Dempsey-Tanner asked for an update on the employment center next door. Sharron Hinton replied that staff hope to be able to open soon and are just finishing up some of the technical details about the café. Ms. Coston added that new initiatives will be evaluated by functional teams. Teams have also been asked to collaborate on developing new initiatives and the human services team has identified food insecurity, transportation, teen parents who have dropped out of school, and emergency sheltering as possible initiatives to fund in FY2016-17. On a motion by Pat Garavaglia the Social Services Board recommended the proposed budget with for FY 2016-17 be presented to the County Manager. The motion was seconded by Ann Wilkerson. The motion was carried without dissent. Ms. Hinton gave the outside agency submissions to Ann Wilkerson and Tamara Dempsey-Tanner to review and provide recommendations to the County Manager. 4. Director’s Report None. VII. Announcements The next regular meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 21, 2016 at the Hillsborough Commons, 113 Mayo Street, Hillsborough, North Carolina at 4:00pm. Pat Garavaglia moved to adjourn the meeting at 5:52pm. Earl McKee seconded the motion. The motion was carried without dissent. Submitted by: Nancy Coston MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES February 22, 2016 3 Director Tamara Dempsey-Tanner Chair