Agenda - 09-04-2018 8-a - Minutes

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36 1 Both the Child Support office and DSS embrace opportunities to improve performance and 2 increase positive impacts for vulnerable families in Orange County. During the next year, DSS 3 will be engaging with the community for discussion and planning on how the community can 4 improve its overall impact on families, particularly those most at risk for child abuse or neglect. 5 6 Nancy Coston said some of the goals outlined in the item are very difficult to meet. She 7 said there is a timeframe in which the federal government wants to see these goals 8 accomplished, but the State is working with the County to make the process manageable and 9 more successful. She said negotiations are ongoing, and most counties are willing to sign the 10 MOU and move forward from there. She said nothing in the MOU is new, but it has a tone that 11 is difficult for those managing social services departments. 12 Janet Sparks, Child Support Services, said all the items in the MOU are things they want 13 to do, but are mandated in such as way that it feels punitive. She said all staff will do the best 14 they can for children regardless. 15 Commissioner McKee said he is the DSS Board Representative, and he said the 16 processes and challenges their staff faces are tremendous. He said he views this MOU as 17 medicine he does not want to take, and is unsure that it will cure him. He said he has extreme 18 reservations that the Department cannot meet these parameters, but he does not see how the 19 Department can avoid signing the MOU. He said there are efforts underway to amend this 20 going forward. 21 Commissioner Jacobs said he sent an email John Roberts asking if the BOCC could 22 write an accompanying letter that expresses concern over the MOU, and its onerous nature. He 23 suggested the following: 24 "The seemingly punitive mandate includes goals that our conscientious and caring staff 25 identify as seemingly difficult to meet despite their best efforts." And to point out that 2/3 of the 26 counties across the State are going to have difficulty meeting those goals. 27 Nancy Coston said she believes that no county can meet all of these requirements, and 28 Orange County performs well in comparison to other counties; so if Orange County finds these 29 goals difficult to meet, other counties certainly will. She said so many variables affect their 30 work, but are completely out of their control: economy, court time, etc. 31 Nancy Coston said another piece is that there is an issue with the State not yet having 32 valid data, and some of the measures cannot be given benchmarks yet. She said some of the 33 measures have never been put in place, so some things still need to be put in place for the next 34 six months, with valid data not being available until January 2019. 35 Commissioner Jacobs suggested that these two department heads write a letter to 36 accompany the BOCC's vote of approval. 37 Chair Dorosin clarified that the targets are ones that the DSS already has in place. 38 Nancy Coston said the items in the MOU, before the BOCC, are the federal 39 requirements. She said North Carolina is a corrective action plan with the federal government 40 for child welfare, and has been for years, as are many other states. She said when a state is in 41 corrective action, there are overarching goals, but specific targets are created each year to 42 move the state up. She said the target number is less than the federal requirement, and this is 43 what the departments are measured against, once these targets are established with each 44 county. She said some counties may get specialized targets as well. 45 Chair Dorosin asked if the federal targets are unchanged. 46 Nancy Coston said that is correct. She said the document was much longer, but the 47 State has cut many of the performance measures due to the lack of valid data. 48 Commissioner Rich asked if the targets will be the same for all counties across the 49 State.