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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDSS Board minutes 101512MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES October 15, 2012 1 THE ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES MET ON MONDAY: October 15, 2012 at the Hillsborough Commons, Hillsborough, North Carolina. BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES MEMBERS PRESENT: Pat Garavaglia, Chair; Valerie Foushee; Arthrell Sanders; and Claire Millar. GUEST: None. BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES MEMBER ABSENT: Albert Williams. . STAFF PRESENT: Nancy Coston, Director; Denise Shaffer, Assistant Director; Sharron Hinton, Human Services Manager; 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 P.M. Nancy Coston introduced Davena Mgbeokwere to the Social Services Board. She is an intern working at the agency and is a student at UNC pursuing a master’s degree in Social Work and Public Administration. II. Board Comments None. III. Public Comments None. IV. Agenda Changes Nancy Coston asked to add a short executive session to discuss personnel. V. Action Items On a motion by Valerie Foushee the Board approved the Minutes of August 20, 2012 and September 17, 2012. Claire Millar seconded the motion. The motion was carried without dissent. VI. Items for Discussion and/or Decision 1. NC FAST Lindsey Shewmaker briefly reviewed the timeline for NC FAST. Staff are currently taking all new applications for Food and Nutrition Services in NC FAST. Beginning November 12th, staff will also be doing recertifications in NC FAST. Staff are learning the system but it is difficult and will take some time. To facilitate this, public assistance review units will be reorganized to create units for Food and Nutrition Services and Medicaid. Supervisors hope this will allow staff to work together and be more consistent in using the system. Ms. Shewmaker also discussed needing additional food resources for families while they wait to MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES October 15, 2012 2 receive their benefits. Pat Garavaglia and Claire Millar discussed options for providing additional food for families using PORCH or Food Bank food. Nancy Coston added that management is working with Finance and Human Resources to add three time-limited staff to work on NC FAST. 2. Unclaimed Body Protocol Nancy Coston informed the Board that UNC Hospital will no longer be running a county morgue. Orange County has been working on a response to this issue and Social Services staff have been involved. Emergency Services now have facilities that will allow it to hold bodies of the recently deceased until families can be contacted. Social Services will work with Emergency Services to continue to handle any unclaimed bodies in the county. 3. Veteran Services Report Sharron Hinton presented the findings of a report on Veterans Services in Orange County. She reminded the Board that Lois Harvin-Ravin left the agency several months ago and the agency has been working on defining community needs before hiring a new Veterans’ Officer. Staff at Social Services held focus groups with community based veterans’ organizations to gather information about what types of services are important to Orange County veterans. Veterans wanted better signage on the building and a larger link on the county’s website. They were also interested in a Veterans’ Officer that could help Veterans access benefits, facilitate meetings, engage with local schools, universities, and community colleges, and do more outreach activities. Veterans also wanted a Veterans’ Officer that had prior experience with Veterans’ benefits and had performed military service. There are between 6,500-7,000 Veterans in Orange County. Most are located in the middle and northern areas of the county. Valerie Foushee asked whether the agency had received complaints that Veterans were currently not being served. She added that she has not received any complaints. Ms. Hinton responded that the agency has not received any complaints. 4. Holiday Planning Sharron Hinton informed the Board that the Toy Chest will be held December 15th-17th. Since the last Board Meeting, Nancy Coston and Ms. Hinton met with UNC Athletic Department staff. Staff identified the December 8th UNC men’s basketball game to collect toys. UNC is working on outreach for the event. Ms. Hinton and Pat Garavaglia are working with Performance Automotive to stage a Toys for Tots event. Ms. Hinton is trying to get Eric Montross to work with the agency on this kick-off event for the holiday toy drive. Ms. Hinton asked whether Board members could help identify any volunteers to help with the Toy Chest. Staff need help collecting toys from boxes located all around the county. Claire Millar stated that she could get volunteers if she had dates and locations. Ms. Hinton informed the Board that Trader Joe’s, who assisted with toy collections last year, was contacted by an individual who claims to be affiliated with Toys for Tots but is not. Staff have asked MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES October 15, 2012 3 for a copy of the letter that was shared with Trader Joes asking for toy collections. Ms. Millar commented that it seemed like a lot of good things were happening. Arthrell Sanders added that the NCCU Alumni Association will be collecting gloves, hats, and scarves for children at the Toy Chest. 5. Departmental Priorities Nancy Coston noted that she was asked by the County Manager’s Office to work with the Social Services Board to identify three to four priorities that the agency would like to share with the incoming county commissioners. Staff have discussed including three things: the impact of impending budget cuts, NC FAST, and Medicaid changes. 6. Director’s Report The Social Services Institute is being held October 24th-26th. Staff will be involved in presentations at a workshop on Wednesday afternoon. The agency won an award for the collaborative program run by Work First and Emergency Services staff. Nancy Coston thanked Pat Garavaglia and Valerie Foushee for attending the staff meeting and providing door prizes to boost staff morale. Ms. Foushee thanked Ms. Garavaglia and Ms. Coston for allowing her to speak at the staff meeting. 7. Executive Session Valerie Foushee moved that the Board enter into Executive Session pursuant to GS§ 143-318.11(a)(6). Claire Millar seconded the motion. The motion was carried without dissent. VII. Announcements The next regular meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 26, 2012 at the Hillsborough Commons, 113 Mayo Street, Hillsborough, North Carolina at 4 PM. Valerie Foushee moved to adjourn the meeting at 5:06 pm. Arthrell Sanders seconded the motion. The motion was carried without dissent. Submitted by Nancy Coston Director Pat Garavaglia Chair