Agenda - 01-16-2008-2 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Request to lease space for Social Services Background The Department of Social Services (DSS)provides a broad array of services to the citizens of Orange County. Although the nature of the services varies greatly—from providing Food Stamps or Medicaid for low-income families to protecting vulnerable children and adults to helping children be adopted—all of these services must be provided in a private, confidential setting. Every three years,the local department is inspected to assure that these requirements are met. A recent inspection has found that the required space standards are not being met at either Southern Human Services or Whitted(see attached letter). The County has ninety days either to comply with the requirements or to submit a corrective action plan to address these issues. Upon completion of the County campus and reassignment of the space being vacated, many of the County's critical space needs will be addressed. However, as discussed during the January 2007 presentation of the Space Needs Study there is a glaring gap regarding how to provide human services space,particularly that which is associated with the departments occupying the Whiffed Building in Hillsborough. The failure to pass State inspection for space further exacerbates the problem since failure to comply, or at least to initiate an action plan that can be implemented within the foreseeable future could jeopardize funding the County receives for the DSS operations. While it is true that there are federal and state expectations regarding space,there is also funding available to meet these needs. There are several ways in which reimbursement is provided but generally the DSS can report leases, utilities and other costs directly on the monthly cost reports and receive monthly reimbursement. Major purchases of more durable goods used in the upfit, (modular furniture, for example), would be depreciated and reimbursed on an annual basis over the life of the depreciation(generally 10 years). This procedure is available for all costs the agency can justify for administering the programs. The percentage of administrative costs that is reimbursed varies among the numerous DSS funding sources. For example, Medicaid and Food Stamps reimburse 50% for all costs while other programs provide somewhat higher or lower costs. For planning purposes,the Department of Social Services expects to receive 55%reimbursement for all administrative costs. The space needs for DSS are critical at this point as outlined in documents provided previously to the Board of County Commissioners and County Manager. The main needs include more office space for employees who conduct client interviews, more interview rooms for any staff who are sharing office space, more meeting rooms for family and other group meetings, space for Work First training and employment activities and more storage space,particularly for confidential records.