Agenda - 12-09-2014 - 7a - Laserfiche WebLink

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After receiving the comments from the Board of County Commissioners and from the DSS Board, DSS had studied the financial impact of the items discussed at the work session for addressing the immediate needs. DSS proposes serving children over age 5 with families below to the 200% Federal Poverty Level (FPL), not imposing the new income eligibility and fee requirements on relatives who are working with DSS to assure child safety and begin serving all children currently on the wait list effective January 1, 2015. Any requests for child care after January 1St would be subject to a new waiting list until the financial impacts of these changes can be calculated. If funds become available, working families will be served from the wait list based on the date added to the list. Families being served with County funds will be informed that these services will continue through June 30, 2015, and will then be dependent on decisions during the 2015 -2016 budget deliberations. If this entire plan cannot be implemented, it is recommended that the relative care and service to current recipients up to 200% FPL be prioritized for consideration. As part of the budget process, DSS will submit a plan for ongoing child care services with annualized costs for all proposals and with recommended priorities. The DSS Board is also planning to meet with the local legislative delegation to seek changes in some of the most harmful changes. FINANCIAL IMPACT: Based on the attached financial statement and caseload projections, the costs for continuing mandated services can be covered with the County funds already budgeted for DSS. The estimated additional County costs to fund the proposal from DSS for 2014 -2015 is $566,000. With the appropriation of the $350,000 from the Social Justice Fund as noted below, the balance available in the Social Justice Fund will be $100,000. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board approve the DSS proposal, transfer $350,000 from the Social Justice Fund to DSS for child care and allow DSS to utilize any funds available within its budget to pay these costs. If additional County funds outside of the agency's budget and the social justice fund are needed, the DSS Director will submit a request to the Manager for Board consideration.