Agenda - 03-19-1985 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

.0 TREND: (continued) The agency is moving into the Long Term Care Screening Program very soon. Although a staff person will be hired, we expect that this program may impact upon the work loads of some adult service staff members. There would certainly have to be close communication/coordination in regards to in-home services. . * • In summary, in order to meet the new mandates regarding quarterly visits and to meet the increasing demands of the Chore Services program more staff time is needed. We can also anticipate that although the Long-Term' Care Screening Program may be a major benefit to our clients tIat imple- mentation of that program will also absorb more staff time. II. OFFICE SPACE TREND: Increased demand for emergency application coverage in Southern Orange County; Assignment ofadditional staff to Chapel Hill DSS office; increased use of Social Work Interns in DSS work. • BUDGET REQUEST FOR 1985-86: To relieve overcrowding and inadequate interviewing and group work space we propose obtaining additional space equivalent to 600 square feet for 3 indi- vidual offices and one multi-purpose use room. JUSTIFICATION: There is a serious need for increased office space in the Northside Office in Chapel Hill. The overcrowding there is -impacting on service delivery to our clients in three major areas: 1.) - social workers are sharing a smatl office with no space for materials and files and there is no privacy for client interviews; 2.) there is no interviewing • space for seasonal program staff such as the Low Income Energy Assistance staff; 3.) there is not a space large enough in the entire office to interview a family. We presently have fifteen small offices (8' by 10') which are being utilized by twenty-eight (28) staff members, three (3) graduate students and various volunteers. One of the fifteen offices, slightly larger than the others, is being shared by two Child Protective Services workers and three graduate students who also have protective services caseloads. Although there is a crucial need for privacy in discussing the very sensitive issues of child abuse and neglect with families this overcrowding makes privacy for telephone calls and client interviews impossible. There are no separate interviewing offices as we have in put Hillsborough Office. Since the move to Northside Center one and a half years ago the social work staff has increased by two which has made the already limited space seriously inadequate. Because of the size limitation of the offices and the fact that the'building hallway is already being utilized as the waiting room there is no space for ex- pansion by adding petitions, as has been done in our Hillsborough Office. During the two months of the Low Income Energy Assistance Program each year the staff members for that program have no place in which to interview their clients at Northside. They have utilized social workers' offices while those workers are out of their offices for brief periods of time, but they must pack up their materials when the social workers return and move to anothertaccupied office, sometimes as many as three times during the day. rimagninigrommim..mos