BC 2016 05 02 Work Session - Laserfiche WebLink

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May 2, 2015 (Work Session) Page 2712 A discussion ensued. During discussion, Mr. Rose, Ms. Nance and Richard Koch, County Attorney, responded to questions from the Board. It was the consensus of the Board for DHS to continue to investigate fraud in the Child Care program. DHS - Child Welfare Positions Ben Rose, Human Services Director, presented the following information in regards to a request for additional Child Welfare positions. Child Welfare Services (CWS), a division within the Department of Human Services (DHS), provides for the assessment and evaluation of reports of child abuse, neglect, and dependency. The Department is required to receive all reports, screen reports to determine if action is needed, and conduct assessments /investigations for reports determined to meet the criteria for abuse, neglect and dependency. The Department has to meet required timeframes and must maintain a caseload that does not exceed the state standard of ten cases per worker. Due to a recent statewide trend regarding turnover within Child Welfare, the Department has faced a high level of turnover and recruitment challenges that most counties are also experiencing. This turnover coupled with increased work volume has created a backlog within Child Protective Services in which caseload standards have exceeded the required limits. The current backlog is of concern to the Department because of the associated risks as well as the burden it places on current staff. To address this issue, the Department has worked in conjunction with Human Resources, County Management and the State to implement strategies to reduce the caseload volume and eliminate the backlog. Such strategies have included: the procurement of temporary staff, reallocation of current staff, enhanced onboarding procedures and increased quality control measures. In addition, the Department requested new positions within the FY17 budget to help address the volume of cases being received within the Department. in meeting with County Management to review further strategies, it was proposed the Department seek early approval to recruit and hire three new Social Work positions originally requested for approval in the FY17 budget. This would allow for quicker recruiting, selection and onboarding of these positions and would provide additional resources to address both incoming reports and further backlog issues. Cheryl Harris, Child Welfare Program Administrator, presented statistical information regarding the staff and caseload in the Child Welfare division. She advised if the three new positions are approved, it will take longer than the five weeks left in temporary staff support before the new hires are trained and ready to begin taking reports. Mr. Rose reiterated the training time required for new staff. Mike Downs, County Manager, expressed support for the three new positions. He requested the Board's consideration due to the recruiting and training time required for the new positions. UPON MOTION of Vice Chairman Honeycutt, seconded by Commissioner Shue and unanimously carried, the Board suspended its Rules of Procedures in order to take action on this item due to time constraints. A discussion ensued regarding the date of hire and if a budget amendment was needed. Commissioner Poole MOVED to approve funding for the temporary positions for an additional three months; and to proceed to hire the three positions, with funding for the remainder of this year to come from lapse salary with the rest of the funding to be allocated in the FY 2017 budget. Vice Chairman Honeycutt seconded the motion and the MOTION unanimously carried. Finance - Kannapolis Middle School Lease Agreement Pam Dubois, Senior Deputy County Manager, reported, as part of the 2016: Limited obligation Bonds issued on March 31, 2016, a portion of the project has to be pledged as collateral for the debt. The Kannapolis Middle School