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APPROVED 9/2/97 1 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BI-MONTHLY WORK SESSION MARCH 13, 1997 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Thursday, March 13, 1997 at 5:30 p.m. in the Government Services Building meeting room for a bi- monthly work session. COUNTY COMMlI33IONERS PRESENT: Chair William L. Crowther and Commissioners Margaret W. Brown, Moses Carey, Jr., Alice M. Gordon and Stephen H. Halkiotis. COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Managers Rod Visser and Albert Kittrell and Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below) 1. WELFARE REFORM TASR FORCE 2. DSS BOARD: ABUSE AND NEGLECT PRESENTATION Jan Schopler, Chair of the DSS Board presented information on the status of Welfare Reform initiatives and on the delivery of protective services to abused, neglected, and dependent children and their families. She asked that the County Commissioners reconvene the task force after the General Assembly adjourns to discuss the best way to operationalize and implement welfare reform in Orange County. She emphasized that this should be followed with community involvement. With regard to Child Protective Services, she said that there has been a significant increase in abuse and neglect and they feel this will increase with welfare reform. DSS staff member Martin Whitt used overhead slides to present information on Welfare Reform. A copy of this information is in the permanent agenda file. The emphasis on work is an effort to reduce the federal deficit. He presented statistics to show what changed when Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) was changed to Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). He noted that as people lose food stamp eligibility, there will be a greater need for more emergency funds for food. Joyce Moore, Chair of the Community Child Protection Team, gave an overview of the System Status in Orange County and strengths and needs of that system. Patty Clarke, Supervisor of Child Protective Services, continued this discussion noting that the number of referrals alleging child abuse/neglect has risen by 26$ this year. The number of children going into custody has increased by 14~. The number of families receiving treatment has increased 58$ in the last 1-1/2 years from 130 to 206 families. There are 369 families currently receiving treatment. In addition to the investigative and treatment services provided by this unit, they received in fiscal year 1995, 2400 calls and this year 3300 calls about the safety of children in the community. Gwenn Price, Work First Coordinator, presented data on the Work First program. Gretchen Eldsworth of the Guardian AdLitem program said that there are many organizations in the community willing to help and collaborate with each other for the best interest of children. She praised the caliber of staff in the DSS saying that they are highly skilled, highly competent and caring people. The families they deal with are fragile and the children are at risk. The job is dangerous and calls for superb judgment and a lot of compassion. Their goal is to provide enough staff to allow the workers to go into the family setting and help them to make changes. She emphasized the need for a group home in Orange County for adolescents. This need is critical. There are 26 adolescents living in group homes and 15 are outside of Orange County. They will bring back a proposal later this year. Commissioner Halkiotis expressed a desire to help the Child Protective workers. 3. HEALTHY CAROLINIANS 2000 Health Director Dan Rimer presented a report of the Community Health Assessment, outlined the next steps and expected outcomes of the Orange County Healthy Carolinians