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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDSS Board Minutes 021813MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES February 18, 2013 1 THE ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES MET ON MONDAY: February 18, 2013 at the Hillsborough Commons, Hillsborough, North Carolina. BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES MEMBERS PRESENT: Pat Garavaglia, Chair; Mark Dorosin; Arthrell Sanders; and Claire Millar. GUEST: None. BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES MEMBER ABSENT: Albert Williams. STAFF PRESENT: Nancy Coston, Director; Denise Shaffer, Assistant Director; Lindsey Shewmaker, Human Services Manager; and Joyce Lee, Business Officer. I. Call to Order and Introductions DSS Chair, Pat Garavaglia, called the meeting to order at 4:07 pm. Board Members introduced themselves. Mark Dorosin introduced himself. He informed the Board he is a recently elected Commissioner, and lives in Carrboro with his wife and three children. He is the managing attorney at the UNC Center for Civil Rights. He has served in various elected and appointed capacities for many years. In his current position he works on a variety of issues affecting low-income and disenfranchised communities and individuals. When the opportunity arose to select Board appointments, he was very much drawn to the work of this Board and agency. II. Board Comments None. III. Public Comments None. IV. Agenda Changes Pat Garavaglia asked for an update on the meeting in Baltimore and the meeting with local ministers. V. Action Items On a motion by Claire Millar the Board approved the Minutes of January 22, 2013. Arthrell Sanders seconded the motion. The motion was carried without dissent. Arthrell Sanders asked how students would be identified for the Second Family Foundation. She recommended using students from North Carolina Central University, and noted students there are required to complete service learning hours. Nancy Coston responded that she thinks Mike Miles would be interested in working with North Carolina Central University to identify appropriate candidates for the program. At the moment, the agency is waiting on county approval. She added she would make a note to ask him to be inclusive of all schools in the area. VI. Items for Discussion and/or Decision 1. Meeting Updates MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES February 18, 2013 2 Nancy Coston updated the Board on her recent meetings. Work Support Strategies focuses on having a better experience for families applying for benefits. There are a series of national meetings that come with the grant award from the Ford Foundation to the state of North Carolina. As past president of the North Carolina Association of County Director of Social Services Ms. Coston has an opportunity to be involved with the state level effort in addition to working with the grant as a local Social Services director. The meeting in Baltimore involved members of the Ford Foundation, the Urban Institute and Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. Speakers came from all of the organizations including federal partners. Much information was provided on changes around the Affordable Care Act. The trips are short but intense. North Carolina is in the implementation of the first year and has two more years of grant work. Ms. Coston reported on the meeting with the Inter-Faith Council ministers. At the meeting, she discussed the operation of the agency’s emergency assistance programs. There were questions about how to coordinate efforts across agencies to provide emergency funding for families in crisis. Many of the churches involved have their own programs to provide emergency funding and would like assistance in screening families for services. Some counties have developed internet systems to track who receives services but that will be up to the churches involved. A committee was set up at the end of the meeting to further study the issue. No other action was taken at the meeting. 2. Poverty Discussion Nancy Coston wanted to share some of the information and discussion at the Commissioners Meeting on poverty in Orange County. Ms. Coston shared some of the points from the presentation made by Gene Nichol from the Center for Poverty at UNC. He noted the discrepancy in the income and racial statistics for Orange County. The Chair of the Board of County Commissioners asked for information about some successful programs that combat poverty. Sharron Hinton explained the goal of the Adolescent Parenting Program to prevent a second pregnancy, graduate from high school, and attend some type of post-secondary education. The work First program helps parents become more employable. The agency has programs focused on job training and employment services. The Work First program won an award at the last Social Services Institute for its job training program to train paramedics for the county’s Emergency Services department. There will be a press release going out sometime this week on the program and award. Ms. Coston added that even though these programs are small, the income earned by the families involved really can help move them out of poverty for the long term. Pat Garavaglia asked whether the Work First program took advantage of the Dress for Success program. Ms. Hinton replied that it did. Mark Dorosin commented he was glad the agency was planning a press release around the program. He noted that going back to earlier comments by the director around the disparities in the county, this may give private employers an opportunity to assist. He added he thinks the small number of successful clients is not a bad thing. Any time you can put a face on statistics it is more compelling. 3. Affordable Care Act Impact on DSS Nancy Coston gave the Board members a handout on the Affordable Care Act that was presented at the meeting in Baltimore. The Affordable Care Act requires a seamless integration of medical insurance programs. Since Medicaid was not expanded in North Carolina, the NC FAST project has to be redone somewhat to make the changes work. If people come in and are not eligible for either program, staff are going to have to tell them. Beginning October 1, 2013 people can apply for subsidy. The law provides subsidies for people making around 100% of the federal poverty level. MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES February 18, 2013 3 Medicaid was supposed to expand to cover the difference leaving a gap of uninsured in North Carolina. Mark Dorosin asked for clarification. Ms. Coston responded that people who are low-income but do not currently receive Medicaid coverage will not be eligible for either subsidy or Medicaid. They will get no tax credit subsidy. North Carolina has not provided Medicaid coverage for as many groups as other states historically. The law and lack of expansion creates a donut hole for these people. Claire Millar asked whether the state can actually refuse the Affordable Care Act. Nancy Coston responded that the Supreme Court ruling allowed states to determine whether to expand their own Medicaid program. All of the homeless people who are not covered are not going to get insurance. A parent making 80% of the federal poverty level will not be able to receive coverage for herself. North Carolina will still have to have a way to evaluate people for services. NC FAST is the system on which the state is relying to determine eligibility for Medicaid and the subsidy. Since there is no wrong door, agency staff will help individuals connect to the exchange. Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) will be used to determine income for all the health insurance programs. All of these rules will be programmed into NC FAST but staff will still have to learn some new policy. The household composition will still need to be correct for each family. Ms. Coston noted that the examples at the end of the presentation do not apply to North Carolina since Medicaid was not expanded. There are Town Hall meetings held across the state on NC FAST, Work Support Strategies, and the Affordable Care Act. Orange County staff will be attending a meeting in Chatham County on February 27, 2013. Mark Dorosin asked whether there was any estimate of the number of people affected by the gaps. Ms. Coston responded that there are estimated to be 500,000 across the state and likely about 5,000 people in Orange County. 4. NC FAST Update Lindsey Shewmaker gave the Board an update on the status of NC FAST. Staff have improved performance greatly in the last month and are now on pace to get benefits processed much more quickly. Discussions have started shifting to the implementation of the next phase of NC FAST which will begin in the early summer for Orange County. 5. FY2013-2014 Budget Nancy Coston reminded the Board that by law the Social Services Board has to approve the budget before it is sent to the County Manager. The Board typically votes on the budget in March. The Outside Agency applications come in and usually two board members will read the applications and make funding recommendations to the County Manager and Board of County Commissioners. Sharron Hinton provided the funding applications and other information for the Board to use for this process. The recommendations are due back March 29, 2013. Mark Dorosin asked whether these funding requests are specific to the Social Services Board or county wide. Ms. Coston responded that this is the process started a few years ago to evaluate proposals for county funding. Mr. Dorosin asked whether Social Services works directly with some of these agencies. Pat Garavaglia responded that some of these agencies receive contract funding through the agency. Ms. Coston added that the justice programs line up with the agency through the Justice Partnership. Ms. Garavaglia and Claire Millar volunteered to review the proposals. Ms. Coston explained the list of contracts currently under discussion for the FY2013-2014 budget. MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES February 18, 2013 4 Funds are no longer being provided by the state for the Baptist Hospital and the Compass Center for Women contracts. Northen Blue has had a contract for a number of years. Carol Holcomb who has been the attorney used by the agency is leaving the firm. Mark Dorosin asked whether the agency has an in-house attorney. Ms. Coston responded that there were discussions about this a few years ago and the Commissioners decided that when Ms. Holcomb retires, a transition plan be put in place to hire an in-house attorney. Mr. Dorosin noted that he was more familiar with counties who have an in-house attorney and was just asking for clarification as to whether this was normal for a county of this size. Ms. Coston responded that it was somewhat unique. The contracts in parenthesis are agencies who pay Social Services. Ms. Coston noted that if there were any questions or concerns to let her know before conversations begin with the various agencies. Ms. Coston also requested Board permission to apply to administer Smart Start Subsidy funds and submit a proposal to administer a youth program. Claire Millar moved that the Board authorize the agency to submit a proposal to continue administering Smart Start subsidy. Arthrell Sanders seconded the motion. The motion was carried without dissent. Claire Millar moved that the Board authorize the agency to submit a bid to run a youth program. Arthrell Sanders seconded the motion. The motion was carried without dissent. Ms. Coston noted the contract list should include a contract for Family Drug Treatment Court should also be included. It was new to the agency last year and will be included in the budget. The budget packet will be sent out in advance of next month’s meeting. 6. Director’s Report April 16th is the date for the Joint Board of County Commissioners and Social Services Board Meeting. The meeting will be held at 5:30 at the Link Building. The officers of the North Carolina Association of County Directors of Social Services are meeting with the new Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) on Wednesday. Sherry Bradsher has been named acting Deputy Secretary of DHHS. Her former position was Director of the Division of Social Services. She is very knowledgeable and her presence in the administration is positive for county departments of social services. Mark Dorosin noted the bill to cut unemployment benefits is being passed. He expects an uptick in people applying for services. He added he would take back all of the information received today to share with his colleagues. Due to a formula change in Food and Nutrition Services, some families will see a decrease in benefits. Pat Garavaglia noted that it is very helpful to get updates from the North Carolina Social Services Association on lobbying activities. Ms. Coston added that the lobbyist shared by the three associations is very good. VII. Announcements MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES February 18, 2013 5 The next regular meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 18, 2013 at the Hillsborough Commons, 113 Mayo Street, Hillsborough, North Carolina at 4:00 pm. Claire Millar moved to adjourn the meeting at 5:37 pm. Mark Dorosin seconded the motion. The motion was carried without dissent. Submitted by Nancy Coston Director Pat Garavaglia Chair