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HomeMy WebLinkAbout5-18-2026 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES May 18,2026 THE ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES MET ON MONDAY: May 18th, 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; Rebekah Rapoza, Fiscal Operations Manager; Lakecia Robbins, Economic Services Program Manager; and Serena McPherson, Administrative Officer I. Call to Order and Introductions DSS Chair, Oscar Fleming, called the meeting to order at 4:03 pm. II. Board Comments None. III. Public Comments None. IV. Agenda Changes None. V. Action Items On a motion by Jane Garrett, the Board approved the meeting minutes from April 2026. Jamezetta Bedford seconded the motion. The motion was carried without dissent. VI. Items for Discussion and/or Decision 1. DSS Board Membership Lindsey Shewmaker updated the Board on the status of membership and expiring terms. She reminded everyone that the DSS Board has different appointment authorities and alternating expirations. Chris Barnes has submitted his application to the Social Service Commission for reappointment. They should be making appointments early this summer. Jane Garrett has served two terms on the board and will need to rotate off. Her seat is appointed by the County Commissioners (BOCC) and will expire at the end of June. Ms. Shewmaker provided the Board with the applications currently on file with the BOCC for review. She has spoken with the Deputy Clerk to the Board for the BOCC about a few of the applicants. Two have recently been appointed to other boards and the BOCC prefers residents do not serve on more than two boards. Patricia Garavaglia and Carol Conway are also interested in serving and have submitted their t MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES May 18,2026 applications. If the Board can reach a decision today about who they would like to recommend for appointment, then it can be added to the BOCC agenda for review and approval. Several Board members expressed the importance of history with the DSS Board, involvement with DSS staff, and continuity. On a motion by Chris Barnes, the Board approved recommending Patricia Garavaglia for appointment to the DSS Board in a County Commissioner appointment seat. Ann Wilkerson seconded the motion. The motion was carried without dissent. 2. Budget Update Lindsey Shewmaker reported that not a lot has changed with the FY27 County Budget since the last update. The big piece for DSS is the recommendation to freeze the step plan which affects DSS, Emergency Services, and the Sheriff's Office. She explained that the step plan has been a valuable tool for staff recruitment and retention, but even with it, they continue to struggle to remain competitive with neighboring counties. DSS is losing staff and applicants to neighboring counties with better hiring incentives and pay. She also explained the nuances of the step plan as it relates to merit pay and how a freeze longer than a year could impact staff's base salary. Another significant budget impact on DSS is related to staffing structure. Ms. Shewmaker explained that as part of the DSS budget preparation, vacant positions were reviewed and a decision was made to reclassify two existing positions to Medicaid and ask for two new positions for Medicaid. The reclassification and request for new positions came from State information that indicated Orange County would need four additional positions to manage the expected workload increase for Medicaid resulting from H.R.1. The County Manager did not include the DSS request for two new positions in his recommended budget. Instead, he recommended DSS reclassify a vacant IT position and prevention services social worker position to meet the Medicaid requests. Due to the reclassification of the vacant IT and social worker positions to Medicaid, Ms. Shewmaker reported that they need to shift some of the work focus of the social worker positions at the senior centers back to DSS to cover the increased workload. She has already had conversations with the Aging Director about needing to pull back one of the social workers to help with our on call and prevention work that would have been covered by the eliminated position. Lastly, DSS also had their MOE budget reduced. The BOCC has asked the County Manager to present scenarios of what the impact on county services would look like if the tax rate increase was lowered to $0.02 and or no increase. In turn, the County Manager requested departments provide a list of what services are not mandated and could be reduced or eliminated. The County Manager will be adding this information to the department slides for their BOCC work sessions. DSS programs and services are complicated because the program/service may be mandated but the funding may not be. There are also notes on some programs that while not mandated, they are funded by grant dollars. And then there are other programs that are entirely county funded (e.g. Youth Enhancement Fund and assistance for ambulance bills). Jamezetta Bedford reported that the BOCC was split 4-3 to move forward with this exercise. The thought behind the request is that this information will help residents understand what type of services would need to drastically reduced or eliminated altogether in order to achieve a smaller or no tax increase. 2 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES May 18,2026 Ms. Shewmaker stated that it can be hard on staff to hear discussions about program eliminations or potential reduction in force, especially going through this exercise. DSS has worked hard on raising morale over the last couple years and the hiring freezes have had a negative impact on morale. As a result of turnover, staff on FMLA, and hiring freezes, they are currently looking at bringing in temps to help with FNS, Medicaid and child welfare functions. The County Manager presented his recommendation for Outside Agency funding. Ms. Shewmaker will send the presentation to the Board after the meeting. There were a few agencies that DSS helped evaluate that were new and did not end up being recommended for funding by the County manager. Ms. Shewmaker has no concerns with any of the funding recommendations for the agencies that we work with. 3. Legislative Updates and Information Lindsey Shewmaker has been doing advocacy work related to the Farm Bill with a couple groups she belongs to. The recommendation is that DSS Boards and agencies reach out to NC Senator Thom Tillis to encourage he support a federal delay of the SNAP cost sharing (administrative and benefit) requirement for two years. Some states were granted an extension, and they were the worst performing states. Those states' senators were able to get carve-outs to delay implementation a couple years in an effort to bring down error rates. What has been gaining traction is granting all states the same opportunity to delay. This would give states an opportunity to put resources towards reducing error rates so that cost sharing would be more manageable, or non- existent. The North Carolina Association of County Directors of Social Services and Ms. Shewmaker are drafting letters to send to the NC Senators advocating for their support of the delay. The DSS Board expressed interest in sending a letter as well; Ms. Shewmaker will send a draft to Board Chair, Oscar Fleming. Ms. Shewmaker reported that NC House Bill 696 (Session Law 2026-1) fully funded Medicaid but also has eliminated self-attestation. This change will lead to a higher workload for staff and require applicants/recipients to have all the correct documentation. There was also a change to the general statute related to confidentiality. The original language was kept but added that in cases where citizenship and/or immigration status cannot be determined, that DSS must report those individuals to ICE. This change applies to all DSS programs even though it is in Medicaid bill. Ms. Shewmaker expects that there will be a lot of legal challenges. She immediately began advocacy work upon learning about it and was told that it happened in such a way that changes to the language couldn't be made. The change goes into effect October 1, 2026. She expects that there will be a ripple effect that could potentially cause child abuse and neglect to go unreported and that eligible children may not receive FNS or Medicaid because parents or other household members are not here legally. The BOCC has had discussions about this during closed session and would like DSS to keep them informed about the status of this and who they can write letters to. NC House Bill 1144 (aka Dominique Moody Safety Act) came out in response to a horrific case in Mecklenburg County. Representative Renee Price is a co-sponsor and the intent behind it is good regarding how to legislate this so it doesn't happen again. Ms. Shewmaker has reached out to Rep. Price to have conversations about the impact this could have at the County DSS level. The bill will create an escalation team at the State level if a case meets certain criteria. The State would essentially take over the assessment and investigation and direct the county on what needs to happen. State involvement would happen regardless of whether they are already involved with a county. Some of the bill is also duplicative of current legislation. Orange County had 60 cases in a 3-month period that would have been escalated under the current bill language and they are a smaller county. Ms. Shewmaker is concerned about State staffing capacity because there hasn't been capacity for several initiatives and this would add even more. The bill would also give authority 3 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES May 18,2026 to allow staff to enter the home without a parent being present, which presents a safety concern for child welfare staff, and would also provide funding for additional staff training. Overall, this will create more work for staff, add strain to already struggling system, and deflate staff morale. 4. PATH NC Update Crystal Wiese reported that DSS went live in PATH NC on April 27 along with 10 other counties. They were the last for intake and assessment components and the first for all other programs in the new system. The data converted over successfully and staff could see everything. Foster care board is paid at the county level but needs to match the system. There were a couple minor issues but those were quickly resolved and overall looked good. As a pilot county, they are submitting a lot of help desk tickets to the State and had the most out of any of the 11 counties. Intake staff are having to work in two systems; existing cases as of April 27 are housed in the old system and new cases in PATH NC. Currently there are 30 cases still open in the old system that need to be closed within 45 days of being opened. Additionally, with policy changes that also rolled out with PATH NC, there are more cases being screened in and a higher number of immediate responses required. Crystal Wiese reported that this feels like a lot to staff, and May is historically one of the highest months for reports. Some of the burden may be lifted as they close cases housed in the old system. One component that has seen major issues is foster parent licensing. Counties are not able to work around the issues, so this has become a high priority for the State. 5. Energy Outreach Plan This item has been moved to the June meeting. Ms. Shewmaker has already emailed the plan to the Board for their review. 6. Director's Report The DSS annual Be Well event occurred May 1 in the Hillsborough office parking lot and was open to all community residents. The mammogram and dental buses were on-site to offer screenings and cleanings. DSS is hosting their next job fair on June 24 from 10-2 at Orange Works in Hillsborough and is open to everyone. Director Shewmaker participated in a panel presentation for NAACP on H.R.1. and the community impact. She talked about SNAP and Medicaid, and the Health Director talked about impacts on public health. The Health Director submitted her resignation last week. Her last day is July 10 and she will be going to Guilford County. This is a huge loss for the County, and she's been a good friend to DSS. The County maintains a contract with an individual to serve as interim director because there are very specific requirements for a health director. VII. Announcements None. Chris Barnes moved to adjourn the meeting at 5:30 pm. Jane Garrett seconded the motion. The motion was carried without dissent. Submitted by: 4 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES May 18,2026 Lindsey Shewmaker, DSS Director Oscar Fleming, Chair 5