Minutes-02-16-2023-Business Meeting

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4 enforcement uses the site and helps by being part of community events. He said that the collaboration is working. Commissioner Richards asked how many families were impacted. Quintana Stewart said that sixty-four residential units were impacted. Keith Bagby said that every four years Orange County is required to complete a community health assessment. He said that the Board of Health is working on the process for 2023. He said the goal is to assist with health issues for Orange County residents. He said that there will be several ways for people to respond to the survey. Commissioner Fowler asked what they do with the data from the community health assessment and was there follow-up for 2019. Quintana Stewart said some was implemented but COVID interrupted that. She said that some will probably be mentioned again in the next cycle. Keith Bagby said they want to make sure they are getting feedback from Orange County residents. Pat Garavaglia presented on behalf of the Board of Social Services. She said that progress has been made with staffing issues but work continues. She said that staff is paying more than 2,700 utility bills for Orange County residents. She said that DSS continues to have difficulty recruiting staff and there are currently 25 vacant positions. She said that options are needed to reduce the burden on staff. She said that all of the efforts are designed to decrease the time that children are in out of home placements. She said there are also a few situations with vulnerable adults. She said that the end of the public health emergency in May will add additional burdens. She said that Medicaid expansion may be approved in North Carolina and this would benefit Orange County but also add to the need of staff. Vice-Chair McKee said he expects Medicaid expansion to pass this year. He asked how many more staff members will be needed if that happens. Lindsey Shewmaker, DSS Human Services Manager, said they have had conversations with the County Manager and those numbers will be included in the budget. Bonnie Hammersley said she had heard earlier that day that the cost to counties for those positions will be completely funded by the state with no county match required for those positions. She said regardless of how many are needed, they can't find people to hire. Vice-Chair McKee asked if it is related to qualifications or a lack of applicants. Bonnie Hammersley said there aren't enough people for the number of jobs. Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked where children go if there aren't enough foster parents available. Lindsey Shewmaker said that they are working on long-term placements rather than short- term placements. Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked if the decrease in foster families was new. Lindsey Shewmaker said that it is a state-wide problem and they are looking at state-wide solutions. Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked if the reimbursement rate was difficult to get people interested in being foster parents. Lindsey Shewmaker said it is a large responsibility. She said that the mental health system is part of the issue, and it is a combination of several things that have increased the number of children needing foster care. Commissioner Hamilton asked how many of the 19,000 are people on Medicaid and how many are families. Lindsey Shewmaker said most long-term Medicaid cases are families. She said there is a dashboard that shows the number of people in Orange County and the type of benefit they are receiving. Commissioner Hamilton asked about the role of compensation in the shortage of social workers.