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HomeMy WebLinkAbout4-20-2026 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES April 20,2026 THE ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES MET ON MONDAY: April 20th, at the Orange County Department of Social Services at 113 Mayo Street, Hillsborough, NC 27278. BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES MEMBERS PRESENT: Oscar Fleming, Jane Garrett, Jamezetta Bedford, Chris Barnes, and Ann Wilkerson GUEST: None BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES MEMBERS ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Lindsey Shewmaker, Social Services Director; Crystal Wiese, Assistant Director; Sharron Hinton, Assistant Director; Rebekah Rapoza, Fiscal Operations Manager; Lakecia Robbins, Economic Services Program Manager; and Serena McPherson, Administrative Officer I. Call to Order and Introductions DSS Vice Chair, Jane Garrett, called the meeting to order at 4:04 pm. II. Board Comments Chris Barnes commented that his first term is coming to an end. He has enjoyed serving on the board and would welcome the opportunity to serve a second term. III. Public Comments None. IV. Agenda Changes Director Shewmaker recommended moving agenda items Outreach and Community Events Updates and PATH NC Check-In before Budget and Staffing Update and DSS Board Membership. V. Action Items On a motion by Chris Barnes, the Board approved the meeting minutes from March 2026. Ann Wilkerson seconded the motion. The motion was carried without dissent. VI. Items for Discussion and/or Decision 1. Outreach and Community Events Update Sharron Hinton shared updates from recent outreach events and played a video highlighting pictures from several of these. The agency hosted a job fair with the Department on Aging in an effort to reach out to individuals aged 55+ who are impacted by the expanded work requirements for FNS benefits. There were 30-35 employers who participated and approximately 60-70 residents. This was the first event DSS hosted where the target audience was older residents. The agency will host another employment event on June 24 at Hillsborough Commons from 10a-2p. Staff anticipate that 50-60 vendors will participate and advertising is currently happening. On May 1 st from 10a-2p DSS is hosting the annual Be Well event. This is open to the community at large and is health focused. Blood Connect and the mammogram bus will both be onsite. Friends of 1 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES April 20,2026 DSS is providing financial support for the mammogram tests. Various town and county departments are participating as well as various community partners. Lastly, the annual foster parent appreciation event will be held on Friday May 29 from 5:30p-8p at the Chapel Hill Community Center. We would welcome board members to attend if able. 2. PATH NC Check-In — Crystal Wiese Crystal Wiese updated the Board on PATH NC. Next Monday, April 27th, is the go live date for the new child welfare technology solution. Orange County is going in for all parts of child welfare, from intake through adoption. Training is occurring on system functionality, policy changes/updates, and data cleanup. All intakes and completed assessments have converted and the remaining information will be converted after 5pm on Friday. PATH NC staff will be onsite on Monday to provide support as needed for go live. Assessment staff will continue to work in both systems temporarily. We have been invited to participate in a state-county group to talk through system defects and suggested enhancements; enhancements will be dependent on the State passing a budget. Staff have been working hard on this alongside their regular jobs and are ready to finally get into the system. 3. Budget and Staffing Update Lindsey Shewmaker updated the Board on the current status of the budget. The DSS Board approved the FY27 budget request back in February and the County Manager is now working on putting together his recommended budget to present on May 6th to the County Commissioners. After his presentation there will be a number of BOCC work sessions until final adoption in mid-to- late June. Staff met with the County Manager in March on the proposed budget and thought the meeting went well. Last week staff attended a second budget meeting where additional cuts were explained but the Budget Director. These primarily affect personnel —two positions have been identified to eliminate and the salary step plan for DSS is being paused for a year. We were asked to provide information to the HR Director earlier in the year when the step plan came up for discussion. Staff looked at positions primarily in child welfare, adult Medicaid, and general public assistance. Our step plan is attractive to potential new employees, particularly when we are competing with Durham and Wake counties who are offering hiring bonuses. While the step plan takes away salary negotiations during the offer process, it is attractive for retention. Statewide there is a hiring crisis for these positions and the cost of not being able to compete to hire and retain staff has the potential for significant impacts. Currently, the County Manager is proposing to pause the step plan for next fiscal year. Additionally, the County Manager froze all positions and at one time we had 26 vacancies. We have made some progress and are down to 20 vacancies. After the freeze was implemented, we had asked permission to unfreeze mandated positions and that left 6 frozen. Two of these positions will be reclassified to satisfy the two new Medicaid positions we requested. One is the IT position that has been vacant since the beginning of the year and there has been some confusion about the number of IT positions we had at DSS. For comparison, the Sheriff and Emergency Services each have two, so we will now be the only large department without two IT staff. We have spoken with the county's Chief Information Officer about tasks that County IT will need to take on with the loss of this position. County IT is already struggling with too few staff and will now be taking on increased workload. The number of open help desk tickets is currently 50, all of which have really come in the last few months. When both IT positions are filled, we can fix most issues internally without having to forward to county IT. 2 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES April 20,2026 Four positions over the last two years have been moved from prevention services. The second position being affected is a Social Worker in prevention services. The type of services that fall with prevention work include walk-ins, Youth Enhancement Fund assistance, various committee representation, Diaper Bank, Food Bank, disaster recovery support, etc. At some point when we don't have these positions we are going to struggle to provide these services to the community that are needed and expected. The cost savings to the County is minor. It is important for the DSS Board and the BOCC to understand the potential impact these cuts may have. As a result of the positions being reclassified, we are going to have to pull back one of the two positions we have that works at the Department on Aging. While one of the positions will remain at the Senior Center this will have an operational impact on that department as well. Lastly, $20,000 was cut from contract services that we earmarked for utility assistance because of concerns about what the federal government may do. Additionally, $45,000 was cut from Maintenance of Effort (MOE) that we use for psychological evaluations and/or behavioral, mental health services for clients working with child welfare or adult services. 4. DSS Board Membership Lindsey Shewmaker informed the Board that two board positions are expiring at the end of June. One is Chris' position that is a state appointment, and he is eligible to serve again. We have already sent him the paperwork to submit to the State for reappointment. The other position is Jane's, and she is not eligible to serve again because she has already served two consecutive terms. This position is a BOCC appointment and Jane can continue to serve in the position until the BOCC appoints a new member. There are currently 5-6 applications submitted to the BOCC that were received within the last on to two years. Additionally, Pat Garavaglia has also expressed interest in returning but would need to apply. Usually, one or two board members will do a preliminary vetting of applications from BOCC, and sometimes applicants will also come to a meeting. As the DSS Board, you can decide how you want the selection and recommendation process to work. Director Shewmaker will send a list of applicants for review, and they can also think about people they may know who would be a good fit. Historically, some of the best board members have come from personal recommendations of other board members. We will also share a link to the application so others can apply if interested. 5. Director's Report Next week is the annual DSS director's meeting in Asheville so Lindsey Shewmaker will be out of office Tuesday through Friday. We have heard concerns from staff about the increase in gas prices and have been having discussions with managers and supervisors. We are encouraging supervisors to work with their teams to accommodate remote work and flex scheduling. Part of this is acknowledging the financial strain for staff. This will be a temporary solution and will be evaluated monthly. We will also create an internal to DSS network for ridesharing if employees are interested. Nothing has come from the County level, so this is a DSS specific response. VII. Announcements None. Ann Wilkerson moved to adjourn the meeting at 5:11 pm. Chris Barnes seconded the motion. The motion was 3 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES April 20,2026 carried without dissent. Submitted by: Lindsey Shewmaker, DSS Director Oscar Fleming, Chair 4