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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDSS Board Minutes 101711MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES October 17, 2011 1 THE ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES MET ON MONDAY: October 17, 2011 at the Hillsborough Commons, Hillsborough, North Carolina. BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES MEMBERS PRESENT: Pat Garavaglia, Chair; Valerie Foushee; Claire Millar; and Arthrell Sanders. GUEST: Holly Kunkel, Program Director, Second Family Foundation. BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES MEMBER ABSENT: Albert Williams. STAFF PRESENT: Nancy Coston, Director; Joyce Lee, Business Officer; Denise Shaffer, Assistant Director; Duston Lowell, Program Manager; and Lindsey Shewmaker, Human Services Manager. I. Call to Order and Introductions DSS Chair, Pat Garavaglia, called the meeting to order at 4:03 P.M. II. Board Comments None. III. Public Comments None. IV. Agenda Changes None. V. Action Items On a motion by Arthrell Sanders the Board approved the Minutes of September 19, 2011. Claire Millar seconded the motion. The motion was carried without dissent. VI. Items for Discussion and/or Decision 1. Board Elections Valerie Foushee nominated Pat Garavaglia as Chair of the Social Services Board. Claire Millar seconded the motion. The motion was approved without dissent. Valerie Foushee nominated Arthrell Sanders as Vice-Chair of the Social Services Board. Claire Millar seconded the motion. The motion was carried without dissent. 2. Second Family Duston Lowell introduced Holly Kunkel from the Second Family Foundation. Ms. Kunkel gave an overview of the Second Family program, highlighted accomplishments, and discussed a new initiative. Second Family provides a small number of children in foster care with intensive wrap- around services to assist them in self-development. The Foundation provided funds to enable foster youth to have experiences they would otherwise not have. One foster child attended weight MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES October 17, 2011 2 loss camp this summer. Another youth went to New York to attend a summer scholars program. A 17-year old foster youth spent part of her summer showing horses, and another foster youth went swimming with dolphins this summer in the Florida Keys. Other trips have included visits to universities. Ms. Kunkle thanked Social Services for all the support staff members provide to ensure the foster youth in the program can participate. The Second Family Foundation also provides tutoring and other ongoing support to the youth in the program. Claire Millar asked how long the Foundation works with each child. Ms. Kunkel responded that the goal is to stay with foster youth all the way through college. Pat Garavaglia asked how the teens are selected to participate. Ms. Kunkel responded that Social Services staff members refer based on age and level of care. The Foundation then decides whether a child is a good match for the program. Ms. Kunkel also explained a new project with Orange County. This project will do a twenty-year look-back at former foster children in Orange County. The project will ask what worked well, what did not work well, and what was missing when youth were in foster care. The project seeks to identify effective services for foster children. Arthrell Sanders asked how many children are in the study. Ms. Kunkel replied that they have identified 400 former foster children who meet the criteria. She also added that the information may not be statistically valid but should still provide descriptive information that will be useful. 3. Job Classification Nancy Coston explained that Orange County is reviewing one-third of county positions each year. This year the Human Resources Department is reviewing most of the positions in the agency. Staff members are currently working to fill out questionnaires. Ms. Coston suggested she send her questionnaire to the Board for approval with next month’s agenda. The Board agreed. 4. Holiday Plan Nancy Coston informed the Board that the agency is working on holiday ideas. Few community members attended the kick-off meeting. She added she has emailed Eric Montross to see if he is interested in being involved but has not heard back. Ms. Coston also talked to Claire Millar about whether PORCH would be interested in participating. Ms. Millar agreed to discuss PORCH’s involvement. Sharron Hinton informed the Board that the agency is having difficulty coordinating with the Marine Corps Toys for Tots office in Raleigh this year due to a personnel change. This may result in the loss of some sponsors. The agency is working with the UNC Pan-Hellenic Council and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City schools to collect toys. The county is also supporting “Jeans for Joy” during the month of December which will allow employees to donate money to the holiday program to dress down. The holiday program is also listed on the United Way Combined Giving campaign. Ms. Hinton reiterated that there is still a need for money. Pat Garavaglia, on behalf of FRIENDS of DSS, offered to help pick up toys at area churches. Arthrell Sanders noted that they had issues last year getting churches to participate in caroling because so many do other things during the holidays. Ms. Coston stated that the agency is looking for a way to make donating as easy as possible. MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES October 17, 2011 3 Ms. Hinton noted that the Toy Chest will run from December 17-20 at the Hillsborough Commons. Ms. Garavaglia asked whether anyone had other ideas of places to contact. Ms. Millar suggested Chapel Hill Tire. Valerie Foushee suggested Mark Pons as the contact at Chapel Hill Tire, and also suggested A Southern Season. Ms. Hinton responded that staff members are planning to talk to them. Ms. Garavaglia suggested that the agency write letters to each of the UNC coaches to explain the program and ask for support. 5. Director’s Report Nancy Coston was asked to attend a meeting in Denver to present North Carolina’s Work Support Grant. The trip is fully funded by the grant funders. Gwen Harvey, Sharron Hinton, and Nancy Coston attended a meeting with the Durham Work Force Development Board. The City of Durham currently runs the county and city programs there and is working on grants around health reform and green enterprise. There are a lot of similarities in the region and it makes sense to work together on economic and work force development. There are some additional funding cuts coming from the state. The TANF Contingency Funds were left out of the continuing resolution of the federal budget. This would create a loss of more than sixty million dollars over the next two years that would be passed on to the counties. The cut to Orange County this year would be around $70,000 this year and larger next year. The money funds child care, Work First cash payments, and child welfare. Valerie Foushee noted that Health and Human Services met last week and discussed the need to remain at the current funding level. Nancy Coston added that management discussed today whether to freeze current vacancies. The agency is concerned about how to manage work load if positions are not filled. The budget gap this year will likely be filled by lapsed salaries in child welfare and may not present a major problem. Nancy Coston as well as several supervisors and managers will be attending the Social Services Institute in Hickory on October 26-28th. Pat Garavaglia asked for an email when the holiday website is available. The Orange County Visitor’s Bureau and neighbors, including the Orange County Skills Development Center, is hosting a holiday block party on December 1st from 3:00 – 6:00 PM. Pat Garavaglia asked whether the agency has funds to pay for children in child welfare to receive counseling services. Denise Shaffer responded that there are funds available. Ms. Garavaglia responded that she would get additional details about the request made to FRIENDS of DSS. Nancy Coston informed the Board that the entire agency is now on a single phone system. The agency is also talking with the Health Department about sharing staffing resources in Chapel Hill. The agency will have its annual staff meeting and celebration in January. More information will be provided in December. VII. Announcements The next regular meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 21, 2011 at the Hillsborough Commons, Mayo Street, Hillsborough, North Carolina at 4pm. MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES October 17, 2011 4 On a motion by Claire Millar and seconded by Arthrell Sanders, the Board adjourned their regular meeting at 5:23 P.M. Submitted by Nancy Coston Director Pat Garavaglia Chair