B080906
• New Hanover County
Board of Social Services
Minutes
August 9, 2006
The New Hanover County Board of Social Services met in open session on Wednesday,
August 9, 2006 at 9:00 a.m. in Multipurpose Room A in the Department of Social
Services.
ATTENDING: Frankie Roberts, Chairman; Ann Pitts; John Craig; F. Wayne Morris
ALSO ATTENDING: LaVaughn Nesmith; Secretary to the Board; Stephanie Monteath,
Assistant to the Director
The Chairman called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. Mr. Craig moved for approval of
the agenda. The motion was seconded by Mrs. Pitts and passed unanimously. Mrs. Pitts
delivered the invocation and Mr. Morris led the pledge of allegiance.
CONSENT AGENDA
Mrs. Pitts moved for approval of the consent agenda. The motion was seconded by Mr.
Craig and passed unanimously.
• INFORMATION AGENDA
Service Awards
Mr. Nesmith recognized Martha Crawford and Cindy Hudson for 5 years of service.
New Hires
Stephanie Monteath introduced Shameika Stokes and Ebony Lawrence, hired as
Economic Services Caseworker Trainees Zone 1.
SSDI
The board reviewed the incomplete SSDI. Mr. Nesmith congratulated the efforts of
Children's Services in their recruitment process for Foster Parents. New Hanover
County's Foster Parent number is very high.
Mr. Morris suggested giving SSDI and Budget information to the board from two months
previous since the board meeting dates were changed from the end of the month to the
beginning of the month. Mr. Nesmith noted that the lack of information would only
happen twice a year, at which times the board would get double information the
following month. No changes took place.
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County Budget Expenditures
• Mr. Nesmith discussed Child Care Subsidy. He noted that the agency did not do as well
as he had hoped for the year. James Oxendine followed up sharing that additional funds
the State has given the County for child care have already been allocated to special needs
children and to partially cover a market increase for child care centers with 3 or more
stars.
Mr. Nesmith projected that in the next few months the board will need to participate in
discussion about the level of care DSS will provide to families in need of child care,
cutting child care slots and staffing. Mr. Morris asked about Medicaid funds the County
will save due to the State's leveling of a Medicaid cap. Mr. Nesmith has requested that
the county not touch the Medicaid money as a portion of that money may be needed to
address the child care subsidy shortfall. Mr. Oxendine said he may have a clearer picture
of available funds by October's board meeting.
STRATEGIC ACTION AGENDA
Chris McNamee recapped the community forum. The answers from the two questions
Pat Melvin asked are: 5 people were employed from the June meet and greet - however,
none of those folks were from the Work First program. Carla West investigated costs and
savings. The cost is $45.00 per day for incarceration of a person who is non-compliant
with child support and only $11.00 per day for the in-home pre-trial release program. As
well, in-home pre-trial release provides non-custodial parents an opportunity to earn
income and pay custodial parents child support. Mark Boyer suggested more marketing
for future community forums to entice more public to attend. Ms. McNamee asked for
suggestions from the board. Mr. Morris agreed that more publicity is needed to draw
more of the community. Mr. Morris also noted that agendas on the DSS web site ought
to be current. Mrs. Pitts and John Craig felt the forum was well presented and enjoyable.
Wanda Marino, Susan Sprenger, Regina Anderson and Cheryl Mote presented
information and a request to increase adult home specialist staff by 2, as per county
recommendation. A written request and fiscal data worksheet were handed out. Ms.
Anderson and Ms. Mote gave examples of recent reports received against adult care
homes and the types of issues/interventions they deal with. It was noted that counties
similar to the size of New Hanover County have much lower Adult Home Specialist to
beds monitoring ratios. Mr. Morris moved to support the request of two new Adult
Home Specialist positions. Mr. Craig seconded the motion and passed unanimously.
NEXT MEETING OBJECTIVES
New Citizenship Requirements
ADDITIONAL ITEMS
• Mr. Morris asked if the news paper had been notified about their misinformation
concerning Sue Taylor and the fact that she was not suspended as the paper stated. Julia
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Talbutt tried to contact the reporter who wrote the story. Mr. Morris suggested that the
• editor be contacted and Mr. Nesmith agreed to do so.
Mr. Morris moved to adjourn the meeting at 10:08 a.m. The motion was seconded by
Mr. Craig and passed unanimously.
As there were no items to discuss in closed session as provided in G.S. 143-318.11
pursuant to G.S. 108A-80 and/or G.C. 154A-98, the meeting was adjourned at 10:09 a.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
LaVaughn Nesmith,
Secretary to the Board
• Frankie Roberts
Chairman
Date approved:
•
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