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MINUTES <br />ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES <br />August 21, 2023 <br />3 <br /> <br />Jane Garrett shared she attended the DSS Institute held in Hickory earlier this month. She shared <br />that she learned a lot about Medicaid updates and enjoyed the workshops offered for Board <br />members. <br /> <br />5. Director’s Report <br /> <br />Nancy Coston shared the next Board meeting will be her evaluation. She will send the materials to <br />Board members. <br /> <br />Ms. Coston shared staff went through Narcan training offered by Orange County Emergency <br />Management Services (EMS). There are plans to have EMS train staff on CPR. <br /> <br />Ms. Coston provided an update on Medicaid Expansion. She explained until a State Budget is <br />passed there will be no expansion. She also shared we are continuing to work on data for childcare <br />subsidy outreach by identifying all four-year-olds receiving Medicaid but not childcare subsidy. <br />Oscar Fleming shared during a recent Orange County Partnership for Youth Children meeting they <br />had a good discussion about promotion of the benefits of early childhood care. <br /> <br />Ms. Coston thanked our guests for attending. Pat Garavaglia asked if they had any questions. Chris <br />Barnes asked how many board seats are open. Chair Garavaglia shared one seat is open. Denise <br />Ferrada asked about engagement with the Hispanic community in DSS programming. Ms. Coston <br />explained we have a large number of individuals in the Latinx community we work with and we <br />partner with the Health Department too in engaging the Hispanic community. Jamezetta Bedford <br />stated Orange County has over 65 languages spoken and the County tries to recruit bilingual staff <br />in addition to offering software to assist with interpretation. Oscar Fleming asked if we have any <br />sense of how well the Hispanic community is being served in the County. Nancy Coston shared the <br />closest assessment of this would be the Community Health Assessment led by the Health <br />Department. Jamezetta shared Justice United has been very active in the County, Freedom House <br />now has a bilingual therapist, and the Refugee Center does a lot of work with the Burmese <br />population. Jamezetta thanked the guests for applying for the open board position. <br /> <br /> <br />VII. Announcements <br /> <br />Ann Wilkerson moved to adjourn the meeting at 5:13 pm. Oscar Fleming 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