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21 <br /> <br />A report on the advantages and challenges of transitioning from county Social Services’ offices <br />to regional offices is due to the General Assembly by February 2019. There is also a report due <br />in November 2018 on regionalization of state offices with implementation to occur no later than <br />March 2020. A workgroup was appointed by the General Assembly to make these <br />recommendations. There are county representatives on the workgroup, and one representative <br />of attorneys who works with social services agencies is Angie Stephenson, a law partner at <br />Holcomb and Stephenson (the firm that provides legal services for Orange County DSS 1 <br />services). The workgroup has met several times and the School of Government is providing <br />facilitation and other support for this work. <br /> <br />When this legislation was first introduced, regionalization of local social service agencies was <br />mandatory. Through work with the bill sponsors, this was changed to allow the work group to <br />make recommendations to the General Assembly before implementation. It does appear <br />however that there is still interest in mandatory regionalization of both state functions <br />and local agencies. <br /> <br />The Department of Social Services is participating in numerous activities related to the law. <br />These include analyzing proposed performance measures, identifying data sources for these <br />measurements, and determining current performance. The Social Services Board and staff <br />have met with state representatives to share concerns about some parts of the law, particularly <br />mandatory regionalization. There is also a convening session in January sponsored by the <br />county commissioners’ association and Orange County will participate in that session. <br /> <br />Commissioner Jacobs asked if there has been thought given to having regional <br />groupings, similar to mental health regional groupings; or will it be more like Triangle J Council <br />of Governments (TJCOG) and other regional boards. <br />Nancy Coston said she does not know, since she is not in the workgroup; but a DSS <br />contract attorney is in the workgroup, if the BOCC would like to share specific feedback. She <br />said, to her knowledge, none of this been discussed. She said the State has to decide what to <br />regionalize. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said North Carolina is unusual in that the State Government has <br />devolved some of the responsibilities to the counties. He asked if this is very unusual, and if <br />the State would prefer to return to a more centralized system. <br />Nancy Coston said this is not clear at this time. She said all states are different, and <br />about ten states have a county-run DSS. She said NC is also one of the few states where the <br />county contributes to the cost in the way that they do. She said Orange County is unique in its <br />approach to certain things, and it is unclear how these would translate to a regional model. <br />Chair Dorosin asked if the workgroup is the same as the study commission appointed by <br />the Legislature. <br />Nancy Coston said this was called a working group, and has a lifespan of about 18 <br />months to create a recommendation, and cannot regionalize without taking a plan to the <br />General Assembly (GA). She said whoever receives the contract for the request for proposal <br />(RFP) will make reports to the GA about the strengths and weaknesses of the system, <br />particularly in child protection. <br />Commissioner Rich asked if the working group is comprised of people from all over the <br />State. <br />Nancy Coston said yes. She said the NCACC appointed 3 or 4 commissioners; there <br />are three social service representatives; one county DSS attorney; as well as many members of <br />the General Assembly. She said Orange County has a contract attorney in the group, and <br />there is also a County Commissioner from Durham.