DSS Board Minutes 102014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES October 20, 2014 2 The second change is a fee increase to 10% of a family’s monthly gross income. Staff have calculated the fees and informed all impacted families. Some families now have higher parent fees than the actual cost of care. This is true for many families who only utilize after-school or part-time care. Staff have suspended services for many of these families and they are now paying the full cost of care. Because they are suspended and not terminated, many of these families could be picked back up in the summer when full-time care is needed if funds are available. Beginning January 1, 2015 relatives who are caring for children will have income counted. This impacts 25 families right now and will be a significant problem for families previously involved with child welfare. The agency is recommending one of the school social work positions be used to provide prevention services to some of these families. There will be a market rate increase on January 1, 2015 of approximately 25%. It is difficult to project figures for this and staff will be better able to project costs in January. There is a decrease in funding for Orange County child care subsidy beginning this year. There will be three reductions over the next six years. Even though the county gave the agency an additional $500,000 there is a significant funding decrease from last year that will make it difficult to serve additional families. There are currently 276 children on the waiting list. Some of the families currently waiting may no longer be eligible once their income is counted under the new rules. Earl McKee asked how many might come off through natural attrition. Ms. Clark responded that 10- 15% of waiting clients will have found another plan or moved by the time staff contact them. Ms. Clark explained that the agency currently pays enhancements on children in 4- and 5-star facilities. Some child care facilities charge much more for private pay than subsidy can pay. The enhancements help bridge that gap. Paying for these enhancements currently takes available funds for subsidy off the table. After some discussion, the Board decided to table the enhancement discussion for now. Ms. Coston explained staff is working on how to balance the decreased funding and increased costs of care with the desire to move families off the waiting list. The county has provided an additional $500,000 for child care subsidy and staff is working through the best use of those funds to meet the greatest need. Mr. McKee talked about competing needs commissioners hoped to address in the Orange County budget over the next few years for Section 8 Housing, child care, and other emergent needs. 2. Adolescent Parenting Program Sharron Hinton informed the Board she wanted to provide an overview on the Adolescent Parenting Program as part of ongoing efforts to keep board members updated on agency programs. Suzanne Hitt is the Social Work Supervisor who provides oversight for the program. Ms. Hitt briefly described the program. Staff works with males or females who are pregnant or parenting. Social workers help participants delay a second pregnancy and finish school. Last year the program had 35 teens that met the state requirement and additional teens who fell outside the state requirements but still needed services. Social workers provide parenting education, life skills, educational assistance, mental health referrals, and other needed services. The program began in 1985 and has been running successfully for 30 years in Orange County. This is a grant year and there are some new requirements including memorandums of understanding with partner agencies within the community. Last year 18 teens graduated with some type of degree, and quite a few went on to post-secondary education. There is a scholarship available to graduating program participants that