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MINUTES <br />ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES <br />July 11, 2022 <br />2 <br /> <br />2. Public Health Emergency Related Updates <br /> <br />Lindsey Shewmaker informed the Board that the public health waivers have been extended through <br />the end of September 2022. There will be a 90 day window to end the benefit for Medicaid and the <br />same is expected for Food and Nutrition Services which means the impact on families will start in <br />January 2023. <br /> <br />3. Initial Equity Data Findings <br /> <br />Lindsey Shewmaker presented some of the initial equity data for Orange County, compiled by using <br />data sources from Carolina Demography and Census data. There are five categories of indicators <br />to include: Economic Opportunity, Education, Neighborhoods and Infrastructure, Civic Life, and <br />Public Health. <br /> <br />Ann Wilkerson asked a question about the timeframe of the educational data. Lindsey Shewmaker <br />commented 2019 school data was utilized due to the known impact of COVID on education starting <br />in 2020. The rest of the data subsets fall in a 2016-2020 band. Jane Garett asked if the data can be <br />broken into Title I versus Non-Title I school data. Lindsey Shewmaker commented it cannot at this <br />time but she believes this could happen. Oscar Fleming asked what would DSS do with this data. <br />Lindsey Shewmaker explained this data was collected as part of the GARE work and not for DSS <br />specifically. Examination and action plan of this data is not entirely an Orange County responsibility. <br />This will help GARE narrow their focus and develop a targeted focus for moving forward. Sharron <br />Hinton explained GARE is a multijurisdictional group and they are waiting to see this data. Lindsey <br />Shewmaker commented DSS facilitated this data work to support GARE; it is not a DSS project. <br />Jamezetta Bedford remarked that the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) had a retreat in <br />June and discussed beginning strategic planning in September. BOCC wanted to use GARE data <br />to direct their planning. She noted the timing is helpful. <br /> <br />4. Director’s Report <br /> <br />Lindsey Shewmaker, Sharron Hinton, and Crystal Mitchell provided the board an update on staff <br />vacancies. Lindsey Shewmaker advised there is no update for the Board on the status of the <br />Orange Works space that is currently closed off. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />VII. Announcements <br /> <br />Oscar Fleming moved to adjourn the meeting at 4:45 pm. Ann Wilkerson seconded the motion. The motion <br />was carried without dissent. <br /> <br />Submitted by: <br /> <br /> Nancy Coston, DSS Director <br /> <br /> Pat Garavaglia, Chair