DSS Board Minutes 062011 - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES June 20, 2011 2 and consolidate the waiting list resulting in a more accurate assessment of the need in Orange County. Child Care Services Association (CCSA) has handled these funds for many years. They sent letters to parents indicating that their subsidy will end June 30th and that the parents should contact Social Services to apply for subsidy. Tina Clark has received numerous calls from concerned parents. The OCPYC Director has been willing to contact these families herself so she could explain the current situation. Recently she was able to get the list of names and contact information from CCSA so she can begin working on this task. Providers have expressed concerns about continued funding for enhancements and WAGES, both sources of additional funds that go directly to providers. Social Services has been working with OCPYC to plan for the transition. It is hoped there will be more similar priority populations to be served and more consistency in the income guidelines. One issue both DSS and the Partnership are working on is to prioritize Orange County residents. This could impact some individuals in treatment programs placed here from other counties as well as residents at the Homeless shelter who come here to live from out of county/out of state. Social Services will follow guidelines that the OCPYC Board establishes for Smart Start funds. The current child care waiting list has 550 children. Previously Social Services had a budget of about $4.8 million and OCPYC had $1.6 million for child care subsidy. Next year Social Services will have about $3.7 million and OCPYC $1 million. The Board of County Commissioners approved an additional $100,000 for subsidy. Funding for child care is going to be a significant challenge this year and it impacts services across the agency as well as community partners. Social Services is committed to maximizing funding to meet the needs of as many families and children as possible. 2. Adult Services Update Medicaid is driving substantial changes in services for adults in North Carolina. Bill 1915i says that Adult Care Homes with more than 16 residents and more than 50% of the population having a diagnosis of a mental health disorder will be unable to bill Medicaid for services. This issue must be addressed or NC will lose millions in federal dollars. Initial estimates are that statewide 1200 individuals will need to be placed as a result of this legislation. There are concerns regarding who will be discharged from the Adult Care Homes to meet the requirement and where they will be placed. There is also a plan for more comprehensive assessment to be completed on individuals in Adult Care Homes. It is still unknown whether this responsibility will fall to Social Services or to some other entity. In Orange County there would be between 300 to 400 people to be assessed which would be a huge increase in workload. Adult Care Homes were able to have a bill introduced that would require the local Department of Social Services to pick up a discharged resident if no one else was identified for this task. This has not been passed. There has been a court ruling in Rowan County that mental health cannot act as guardian of the person when they are also providing services. Locally, Mental Health has been willing to provide guardianship for individuals experiencing serious mental health problems and currently acts as guardian for a number of Orange County residents. Departments of Social Services are working with Secretary Cansler’s office to address this issue. One option would be a contract with a provider to assume this responsibility statewide. If another option is not identified, this could have a substantial impact on Social Services.