B10162012 New Hanover County
Board of Social Services
® Meeting Minutes
® Multi Purpose Room A
10:00a.m. — 11:00 a.m.
The New Hanover County Board of Social Services met in open session on Tuesday.
October 16. 2012 at 10:00 in Multi Purpose Room A of the New Hanover County
Department of Social Services.
ATTENDING: Patrick Riley. Chairman: Evelyn Bryant, Vice Chairman: Diana
Woolley and Frankie Roberts
ALSO ATTENDING: LaVaughn Nesmith, Secretary to the Board: Stephanie
Monteath. Assistant to the Director
The Chairman called the meeting to order at 10:0 a.m. Mr. Riley asked for a motion
to approve the agenda. Ms. Woolley moved for approval of the agenda. The motion
was seconded by Mr. Roberts and passed unanimously.
Ms. Bryant led the invocation. Mr. Roberts led the pledge of allegiance.
CONSENT AGENDA
• Mr. Riley asked for a motion to approve the consent agenda. Ms. Woolley moved to
approve the minutes. The motion was seconded by Ms. Bryant and passed
unanimously.
INFORMATION AGENDA
Ms. Woolley noted the number of walk-ins has dropped. Ms. McNamee noted last
year's high walk in number was due to the hurricane. Ms. Woolley noted both
guardianship and Adult Medicaid numbers are up. Director Nesmith noted staff is
working on the Child Care Subsidy waiting list. Ms. McNamee noted the service
reduction plan has begun. Director Nesmith noted Child Care is on the legislative
agenda. There are 1082 children on the waiting list now, most with working parents.
Ms. Bryant asked if there is a cap on guardianship cases. Dean Hollandsworth said
there is not a cap: it just depends on who moves here. All attempts are made for
family to take guardianship responsibilities for incompetent adults, but that is not
always possible or available. Director Nesmith and Mr. Hollandsworth discussed the
importance of end of life planning for seniors before they get to the state where they
are deemed incompetent. Ms. Woolley suggested the Department of Aging would be
the appropriate group to do end of life planning. training and outreach.
Ms. Woolley thanked the Star News for their editorial about the monitoring and
penalties of adult care homes in New Hanover County.
Karen Graham reviewed the County Budget Expenditures and explained the process
of reconciling expenses which will be incurred at the Social Services Institute.
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Ms. Woolley asked for clarification about the contract for Child Support
Enforcement. Ms. McNamee explained the process of the Request For Proposal
(RFP).
No action was taken by the Board.
STRATEGIC ACTION AGENDA
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Grant
Chris McNamee and Kari Sanders discussed the proposed Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation Grant, explaining this as an opportunity to get the Prevention Unit
functioning again. Director Nesmith noted the agency gets more CPS reports on
children of color. The Foundation works to help families give their children love and
attention so that they are not tempted to join gangs. Ms. Sanders explained that
adding another prevention worker, through the use of this grant money, would give
the agency an opportunity to take outside referrals. The agency will know by the end
of the month whether the agency will be invited to submit a full proposal.
Mr. Roberts moved to support the proposed grant application. Ms. Woolley seconded
the motion and suggested it be submitted to the County Commissioners in early
November for approval. Ms. Woolley also offered her husband's services for editing
the grant as it is nationally competitive. The motion was passed unanimously.
Information Technology and DSS Collaboration
Christine McNamee and Leslie Chaney reviewed IT and DSS process collaboration.
Ms. McNamee talked about the lobby renovation and the reduction of clerical staff as
a result of having a single porthole of entry to the building. DSS worked with IT to
create processes to compensate for that loss of man power. Ms. Chaney further
explained the consolidation of the phone lines after analyzing the calls coming
through the agency: wherein just 2 people were dedicated to answer the phones and
connect callers to right person in the agency. A separate person answers the abuse
and neglect line.
Ms. McNamee talked about the new recertification process created wherein 1
supervisor takes the lead, the process is broken down into 4 parts and has literally
saved the agency hundreds of hours of man power. This process will be receiving a
best practice award through the State.
Ms. Chaney discussed the process of dealing with returned Medicaid cards. The
cards are now run through Laserfische which has eliminated the hand written list of
yore. enables staff to easily locate the correct caseworker connected to the case and
will allow labels to be printed to resend the cards out to recipients.
IT is now looking at was to automate the Medicaid Transportation Process and
improve the Legal Tracking system.
Next Meeting Objectives
NC Fast Hard Launch Update
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Update from Social Services Institute Attendees.
41, Board Comments
Ms. Woolley noted she will not attend November's Board meeting as she will not be
in town.
Ms. Woolley asked for clarification on a statement about consolidation of DSS and
the Health Department. Avril Pinder explained that the Board of Social Services still
holds authority as no decision about the direction of consolidation has been made and
a public meeting has not take place.
Evelyn Bryant reminded the Board about the Adoption Awareness picnic November
3, 2012. She plans to attend.
Additional Items
As there was no additional information as provided in G.S. 143-318.11 to consider
information that is confidential pursuant to G.S. 108A-80 and/or G.S. 154A-98, the
Board by consensus adjourned at 10:53. Respectfully submitted.
try ; { ' _
LaVaughn Nesmith.
Secretary to the Board
Patrick Riley.
Chairman
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