10-19-2020 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES October 19, 2020 3 multigenerational home setting. Orange County Health continues to refer families to OCDSS who have identified social needs due to a COVID-19 diagnosis. Social workers make contact with these identified individuals and complete an informal needs assessment. We are most often seeing a need for assistance with rent, utilities, food, and hygiene products. Financial assistance and food/hygiene product porch deliveries are being made. Crystal Mitchell provided the Board with an update on additional ways CARES money is being spent in Child Welfare to include financial assistance with rent and utilities in addition to support of virtual education (tutoring, virtual learning centers, and internet payment). Sharron Hinton provided an update in regards to OCDSS’s role in food distribution to County families. Around 3700 households or 15,000 people have been served through County food distributions. These distributions are held twice a month; the 2nd Tuesday at Cedar Ridge High School and the 4th Thursday at Carrboro High School. We have collaborated at times with the Food Bank and Cooperative Extension. OCDSS staff packs 400 boxes of food every other week. We have supplied Town of Chapel Hill recently with 50 food boxes and PORCH with 200 food boxes for a distribution they organized in Cedar Grove. There will be no community distribution in December, as we will be providing food boxes during our Toy Chest event. Sharron Hinton and Nancy Coston continue to assess the mass feeding needs of the community and plan to reconvene the mass feeding group to have further discussion about these needs. In regards to Employment Services, Sharron Hinton stated the Hope Renovations program finished their first cohort on 9/11/2020. This was a six-part course in the construction trade. The second cohort will be a seven-part course on plumbing and will start soon. There will be a drive-thru job fair on 11/4/20. This will be Health Care industry focused with 5-10 hiring employers present. Another job fair will be held on 11/18/20 with a focus on the Construction and Trades industry. Janet Garrett asked how females are recruited for the Hope Renovations program. OCDSS WIOA contracts with Hope Renovations and they recruit alongside OCDSS employment services staff recruiting from their caseloads. Susie Enoch asked the time of the job fair. The job fair will be 10a- 2p. To wrap up recovery work being conducted by the agency, Nancy Coston stated the childcare unit is supporting virtual education with financial assistance for virtual education centers. Adult Services also continues to assist other agencies by conducting safety check visits and meeting needs of adults in the community by making food and hygiene product porch deliveries. 4. Medicaid Transformation Nancy Coston advised the Board OCDSS is again in a preparation readiness phase for Medicaid Transformation. Open enrollment will begin on 3/15/21. Everyone has to choose their plan again even if they chose this in the past. Anyone who has not chosen a plan by 5/15/21 will be assigned a plan. Medicaid Transformation will begin 7/1/21. 5. One-Stop Voting Site Nancy Coston advised Orange Works is an early voting site. Orange Works will not reopen to the public until January 2021. Additionally, Seymour Center is an early voting site, which is located beside Southern Human Services Center (SHSC). Senior lunch distribution has been moved to the parking lot of SHSC during the Early Voting period.