CALDWELL COUNTY SOCIAL SERVICES BOARD MEETING ...
CALDWELL COUNTY SOCIAL SERVICES BOARD MEETING MINUTES December 17, 2015
I. CALL TO ORDER The Caldwell County Department of Social Services Board met on Thursday, December 17, 2015 at the Health and Human Services Building/Third Floor Atrium in Lenoir, North Carolina. The Board Chair, Mr. Thomas Tighe called the meeting to order at 2:03pm. Other Board members in attendance were Trilla Annas, Sarah Sponenberg and Patricia Stone. II. AGENDA, AMENDMENTS FROM BOARD OR DIRECTOR, MOTION TO APPROVE The Chair called for approval/amendment of the December 17, 2015 agenda. Ms. Trilla Annas made a motion the agenda be approved as written, seconded by Ms. Pat Stone and it was approved unanimously. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The Chair called for approval/amendment of the November 19, 2015 board minutes. Ms. Trilla Annas made a motion the minutes be approved as written, seconded by Ms. Pat Stone and it was approved unanimously. IV. RECOGNITIONS A. NOVEMBER EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH-NONE SELECTED B. DECEMBER EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH, SUZANNE HOPKINS Ms. Suzanne Hopkins was named December 2015 Employee of the Month. Ms. Hopkins nomination stated that: “This employee continues to perform her duties of an Accounting Technician II as well as learn the new duties of her Accounting Technician III position. She provides back-up to the Administrative Assistant II position and recently, she filled in during a board meeting with very short notice and did an amazing job. Not only is this employee an amazing worker, she is also one of the nicest and hardest working folks around.” The board congratulated Ms. Hopkins on being named December Employee of the Month. V. REPORTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS A. Family Medicaid Report Ms. Kim Conley, Supervisor spoke to the board and presented a detailed report regarding the Family and Children’s Medicaid Program. Ms. Conley stated that Family and Children’s Medicaid provides coverage to households who have a caretaker of a child 18 years or younger, have a household member who is pregnant, wants family planning services, and children age 18 and younger who need medical coverage. The Medicaid program also carries a caseload of breast and cervical cancer Medicaid recipients. Ms. Conley added that her staff also handles all of the Medicaid for our foster care case load. Ms. Conley explained that the past two weeks statewide have been very busy due to case information that has been keyed in the NCFAST system now has to be rekeyed due to issues within that system. Ms. Conley stated that this is equivalent to a loss of 2.5 working days during a work week. Ms. Conley added that her team also receives Federal Marketplace applications that must be processed as well and that her program is state mandated to process any Medicaid application within 45 days. Ms. Conley stated that the Family and Children’s Medicaid program is a difficult program to learn and all new workers go through a minimum of six months of training to learn the program. The board thanked Ms. Conley for her report.
B. Foster Children’s Christmas Party Ms. Melinda Price, Supervisor, spoke to the board regarding the Foster Children’s Christmas Party. Ms. Price stated that the party was held on Saturday, December 12, 2015. Ms. Price explained that there were 285 total attendees at the event with 95 of those being foster children. Ms. Price stated that the event is made possible by donations and that all money for the event was from 100% donated funds. Ms. Price added that the children and adults alike had a wonderful time at the event. The board thanked Ms. Price for her report. VI. MONTHLY UPDATES A. Financial Report Mr. Chris Conley, Business Officer presented the November 2015 County Finance Monthly Report stating that we expensed $1,453,575.00 received $1,154,500.00, and used $479,963.00 of county funds to operate during the month. Mr. Conley explained that our expenses were higher during the month of November which is typical due to our staff longevity payout and the beginning of our CIP and LIEAP spending. The board thanked Mr. Conley for his report. B. Personnel Report Mr. Will Wakefield, Director reported that of our vacancies listed on our December report that only 1 of those left the agency. Mr. Wakefield explained that the other vacancies were employees moving positions within the agency. Mr. Wakefield added that our agency attorney Mr. Meeks started this week and that the agency and legal team are very happy to have him. The board thanked Mr. Wakefield for his report. C. Adult & Family Support Highlights Mr. Jack Daulton, Program Administrator spoke to the board regarding our Adult and Family Support Services Highlights. Mr. Jack Daulton reported the Food and Nutrition benefits had an increase in recipients since our last board meeting due to more folks getting on the program during the holiday season. Mr. Daulton added that Subsidized Child Care Assistance was provided to approximately 683 children and that 233 children have been added to subsidized child care services since September 1st. Mr. Daulton explained that our waiting list totals have gone down from 496 on September 1st to 125 on December 1st and we anticipate eliminating the list by early January. Mr. Daulton also added that during the month of November our Food and Nutrition staff achieved 99.75% overall timeliness in processing regular applications and 100% overall timeliness for expedited applications. Mr. Daulton stated that the USDA still wants all 100 counties to reach 95% by July 2016 or penalties can occur at the county level. Mr. Daulton added that currently the average across the state is 89%. The board thanked Mr. Daulton for his report. D. Children’s Services Highlights The Children’s Services Highlights were given to board members but an oral report was not given at today’s meeting. Ms. Bowman did discuss with the board the future of Child Welfare becoming a part of NCFAST. Ms. Bowman stated that due to the system issues that still continue to arise within NCFAST, the addition of the Child Welfare program merging into that system is still probably a few years away. Ms. Bowman explained that due to the critical area of Child Welfare that counties cannot afford to have system errors and down time in order to provide protection for children. The board thanked Ms. Bowman for her discussion.
VII.
BOARD GOVERNANCE A. January Board Meeting-Tuesday, January 26, 2016 at the Alden E. Starnes, County Office Plaza/City County Chambers.
VIII. ADJOURN With no further business, the Chair called for a motion to adjourn. Ms. Pat Stone made a motion to adjourn seconded by Ms. Trilla Annas and it was approved unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 2:52pm.
I. CALL TO ORDER The Caldwell County Department of Social Services Board met on Thursday, December 17, 2015 at the Health and Human Services Building/Third Floor Atrium in Lenoir, North Carolina. The Board Chair, Mr. Thomas Tighe called the meeting to order at 2:03pm. Other Board members in attendance were Trilla Annas, Sarah Sponenberg and Patricia Stone. II. AGENDA, AMENDMENTS FROM BOARD OR DIRECTOR, MOTION TO APPROVE The Chair called for approval/amendment of the December 17, 2015 agenda. Ms. Trilla Annas made a motion the agenda be approved as written, seconded by Ms. Pat Stone and it was approved unanimously. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The Chair called for approval/amendment of the November 19, 2015 board minutes. Ms. Trilla Annas made a motion the minutes be approved as written, seconded by Ms. Pat Stone and it was approved unanimously. IV. RECOGNITIONS A. NOVEMBER EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH-NONE SELECTED B. DECEMBER EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH, SUZANNE HOPKINS Ms. Suzanne Hopkins was named December 2015 Employee of the Month. Ms. Hopkins nomination stated that: “This employee continues to perform her duties of an Accounting Technician II as well as learn the new duties of her Accounting Technician III position. She provides back-up to the Administrative Assistant II position and recently, she filled in during a board meeting with very short notice and did an amazing job. Not only is this employee an amazing worker, she is also one of the nicest and hardest working folks around.” The board congratulated Ms. Hopkins on being named December Employee of the Month. V. REPORTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS A. Family Medicaid Report Ms. Kim Conley, Supervisor spoke to the board and presented a detailed report regarding the Family and Children’s Medicaid Program. Ms. Conley stated that Family and Children’s Medicaid provides coverage to households who have a caretaker of a child 18 years or younger, have a household member who is pregnant, wants family planning services, and children age 18 and younger who need medical coverage. The Medicaid program also carries a caseload of breast and cervical cancer Medicaid recipients. Ms. Conley added that her staff also handles all of the Medicaid for our foster care case load. Ms. Conley explained that the past two weeks statewide have been very busy due to case information that has been keyed in the NCFAST system now has to be rekeyed due to issues within that system. Ms. Conley stated that this is equivalent to a loss of 2.5 working days during a work week. Ms. Conley added that her team also receives Federal Marketplace applications that must be processed as well and that her program is state mandated to process any Medicaid application within 45 days. Ms. Conley stated that the Family and Children’s Medicaid program is a difficult program to learn and all new workers go through a minimum of six months of training to learn the program. The board thanked Ms. Conley for her report.
B. Foster Children’s Christmas Party Ms. Melinda Price, Supervisor, spoke to the board regarding the Foster Children’s Christmas Party. Ms. Price stated that the party was held on Saturday, December 12, 2015. Ms. Price explained that there were 285 total attendees at the event with 95 of those being foster children. Ms. Price stated that the event is made possible by donations and that all money for the event was from 100% donated funds. Ms. Price added that the children and adults alike had a wonderful time at the event. The board thanked Ms. Price for her report. VI. MONTHLY UPDATES A. Financial Report Mr. Chris Conley, Business Officer presented the November 2015 County Finance Monthly Report stating that we expensed $1,453,575.00 received $1,154,500.00, and used $479,963.00 of county funds to operate during the month. Mr. Conley explained that our expenses were higher during the month of November which is typical due to our staff longevity payout and the beginning of our CIP and LIEAP spending. The board thanked Mr. Conley for his report. B. Personnel Report Mr. Will Wakefield, Director reported that of our vacancies listed on our December report that only 1 of those left the agency. Mr. Wakefield explained that the other vacancies were employees moving positions within the agency. Mr. Wakefield added that our agency attorney Mr. Meeks started this week and that the agency and legal team are very happy to have him. The board thanked Mr. Wakefield for his report. C. Adult & Family Support Highlights Mr. Jack Daulton, Program Administrator spoke to the board regarding our Adult and Family Support Services Highlights. Mr. Jack Daulton reported the Food and Nutrition benefits had an increase in recipients since our last board meeting due to more folks getting on the program during the holiday season. Mr. Daulton added that Subsidized Child Care Assistance was provided to approximately 683 children and that 233 children have been added to subsidized child care services since September 1st. Mr. Daulton explained that our waiting list totals have gone down from 496 on September 1st to 125 on December 1st and we anticipate eliminating the list by early January. Mr. Daulton also added that during the month of November our Food and Nutrition staff achieved 99.75% overall timeliness in processing regular applications and 100% overall timeliness for expedited applications. Mr. Daulton stated that the USDA still wants all 100 counties to reach 95% by July 2016 or penalties can occur at the county level. Mr. Daulton added that currently the average across the state is 89%. The board thanked Mr. Daulton for his report. D. Children’s Services Highlights The Children’s Services Highlights were given to board members but an oral report was not given at today’s meeting. Ms. Bowman did discuss with the board the future of Child Welfare becoming a part of NCFAST. Ms. Bowman stated that due to the system issues that still continue to arise within NCFAST, the addition of the Child Welfare program merging into that system is still probably a few years away. Ms. Bowman explained that due to the critical area of Child Welfare that counties cannot afford to have system errors and down time in order to provide protection for children. The board thanked Ms. Bowman for her discussion.
VII.
BOARD GOVERNANCE A. January Board Meeting-Tuesday, January 26, 2016 at the Alden E. Starnes, County Office Plaza/City County Chambers.
VIII. ADJOURN With no further business, the Chair called for a motion to adjourn. Ms. Pat Stone made a motion to adjourn seconded by Ms. Trilla Annas and it was approved unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 2:52pm.
