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MINUTES <br />ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES <br />October 17, 2011 <br />3 <br />Ms. Hinton noted that the Toy Chest will run from December 17-20 at the Hillsborough Commons. <br /> <br />Ms. Garavaglia asked whether anyone had other ideas of places to contact. Ms. Millar suggested <br />Chapel Hill Tire. Valerie Foushee suggested Mark Pons as the contact at Chapel Hill Tire, and also <br />suggested A Southern Season. Ms. Hinton responded that staff members are planning to talk to <br />them. <br /> <br />Ms. Garavaglia suggested that the agency write letters to each of the UNC coaches to explain the <br />program and ask for support. <br /> <br />5. Director’s Report <br /> <br />Nancy Coston was asked to attend a meeting in Denver to present North Carolina’s Work Support <br />Grant. The trip is fully funded by the grant funders. <br /> <br />Gwen Harvey, Sharron Hinton, and Nancy Coston attended a meeting with the Durham Work Force <br />Development Board. The City of Durham currently runs the county and city programs there and is <br />working on grants around health reform and green enterprise. There are a lot of similarities in the <br />region and it makes sense to work together on economic and work force development. <br /> <br />There are some additional funding cuts coming from the state. The TANF Contingency Funds were <br />left out of the continuing resolution of the federal budget. This would create a loss of more than <br />sixty million dollars over the next two years that would be passed on to the counties. The cut to <br />Orange County this year would be around $70,000 this year and larger next year. The money <br />funds child care, Work First cash payments, and child welfare. Valerie Foushee noted that Health <br />and Human Services met last week and discussed the need to remain at the current funding level. <br />Nancy Coston added that management discussed today whether to freeze current vacancies. The <br />agency is concerned about how to manage work load if positions are not filled. The budget gap this <br />year will likely be filled by lapsed salaries in child welfare and may not present a major problem. <br /> <br />Nancy Coston as well as several supervisors and managers will be attending the Social Services <br />Institute in Hickory on October 26-28th. <br /> <br />Pat Garavaglia asked for an email when the holiday website is available. <br /> <br />The Orange County Visitor’s Bureau and neighbors, including the Orange County Skills <br />Development Center, is hosting a holiday block party on December 1st from 3:00 – 6:00 PM. <br /> <br />Pat Garavaglia asked whether the agency has funds to pay for children in child welfare to receive <br />counseling services. Denise Shaffer responded that there are funds available. Ms. Garavaglia <br />responded that she would get additional details about the request made to FRIENDS of DSS. <br /> <br />Nancy Coston informed the Board that the entire agency is now on a single phone system. The <br />agency is also talking with the Health Department about sharing staffing resources in Chapel Hill. <br /> <br />The agency will have its annual staff meeting and celebration in January. More information will be <br />provided in December. <br /> <br />VII. Announcements <br /> <br />The next regular meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 21, 2011 at the Hillsborough <br />Commons, Mayo Street, Hillsborough, North Carolina at 4pm.