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HomeMy WebLinkAbout4-19-2021 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES April 19,2021 THE ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES MET ON MONDAY: April 19, 2021 virtually. BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES MEMBERS PRESENT: Tamara Dempsey-Tanner, Pat Garavaglia, Earl McKee and Jane Garrett. GUEST: Ann Wilkerson. BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES MEMBERS ABSENT: None. STAFF PRESENT: Nancy Coston, Director; Lindsey Shewmaker, Human Services Manager; Sharron Hinton, Human Services Program Manager; Crystal Mitchell, Human Services Program Manager; and Brittany Mann, Child Welfare Program Manager. I. Call to Order and Introductions DSS Chair, Tamara Dempsey-Tanner, called the meeting to order at 4:04 pm. II. Board Comments Pat Garavaglia noted that Friends of DSS may be getting a grant for $25,000 from the Oakleaf Foundation and is looking for suggestions for specific needs of clients. Sharron Hinton suggested work-related clothing and Nancy Coston suggested car related expenses. III. Public Comments None. IV. Agenda Changes None. V. Action Items On a motion by Pat Garavaglia, the Board approved the minutes of March 2021. TaEarl McKee seconded the motion. The motion was carried without dissent. VI. Items for Discussion and/or Decision 1. Medicaid Update Lindsey Shewmaker updated the Board on the Medicaid audit. The audit starts in April and lasts for ten months. Staff will report out monthly on the outcomes of the audit. 2. Mental Health Services Cardinal Innovations, the managed care organization for mental health services in Orange County has recently entered into an agreement with the Department to provide funds to support additional efforts to improve outcomes for families in the child welfare system. These funds can be used to provide immediate services to children entering DSS custody as well as supportive services to children and their families, foster families and kinship care providers. These efforts will focus on l MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES April 19,2021 meeting mental health needs of families while also addressing permanency and safety for children. DSS will spend these funds on approved activities and will report spending information to Cardinal Innovations. Some current plans for use of funds include providing specialized services not supported through Medicaid for children with complex needs as well as identifying supports for foster and kinship care providers serving Orange County children. These funds will be provided each month based on the number of children who receive Medicaid and are in custody or adoptive placements. This agreement will remain in place until the specialized managed care plan for foster children begins in 2022 or until Cardinal Innovations is no longer the managed care entity for Orange County. Tamara Dempsey-Tanner asked what happens if the funds cannot be spent. Ms. Coston responded that she believed that the funds could be spent but there could be a reversion if not. Earl McKee noted that Cardinal has been heavily criticized for their services and he is unsure whether this a response to that. He believes that the county be well-advised to go ahead and spend this money since disengagement is likely to move forward. Ms. Dempsey-Tanner asked whether other DSS agencies were given the same options. Ms. Coston responded that they did but she is unsure how many agencies are signing for it. 3. Family First Prevention Services Act Crystal Mitchell presented on the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA). This is significant federal legislation that will utilize IVE funding for prevention services and also seeks to move children in the foster care system away from congregate care settings into more family placements. All states must implement the provisions of FFPSA by October 2021. North Carolina is still working on the five year prevention plan they must submit to the Administration of Children and Families (ACF) with a timeline of submission for approval in July 2021. NC has finalized the first phase of eligible participants to include youth receiving in home services, youth exiting in home services, and pregnant/parenting youth in foster care. The finalized list of evidence-based programs selected for IVE reimbursement include Homebuilders, Teachers as Parents, Triple P Level 4, Multi-Systemic Therapy, and Methadone Maintenance treatment. The State will be awarding state contracts to provider who can offer one or more of these programs to each of the seven regions in North Carolina. The first rollout will include Homebuilders and Teachers as Parents. Starting 10/2021, federal funds can only reimburse congregate care settings for two weeks. The exceptions to this include congregate care settings for pregnant/parenting youth, young adults in the Foster Care 18 to 21 program who are in an independent living program, youth at risk of human trafficking, and programs that are Qualified Residential Treatment Programs (QRTP). An overview of placements for OCDSS foster youth was provided to the Board (as of 3/31/2021). 95% of our foster youth are in a family setting. For the 5% in a congregate care setting, only one youth's placement would not qualify for federal reimbursement. The financial impact of this Act is expected to be minimal for our county. It was highlighted that OCDSS has historically done well in maintaining our children/youth in family settings. We have an ongoing focus on foster parent recruitment/retention as well as placing children in kinship placements. 4. Recovery Activities Sharron Hinton presented information on what the agency is doing to support pandemic recovery efforts. May 3rd the Europa Center will be open to assist individuals who are job seeking and/or looking for training opportunities. Staff have had conversations with the Department of Commerce 2 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES April 19,2021 and they are excited to reopen. Several employers have reached out for assistance with virtual job fairs and staff are working on getting access to an online system. There will also be a food pantry at Southern Human Services opening shortly as part of the Food Bank partnership. 5. Director's Report Nancy Coston added that the budget process is ongoing although she doesn't expect any surprises. VII. Announcements Pat Garavaglia moved to adjourn the meeting at 5:27 pm. Jane Garrett seconded the motion. The motion was carried without dissent. Submitted by: Nancy Coston, DSS Director Tamara Dempsey-Tanner, Chair 3