POLK COUNTY CONSOLIDATED HUMAN SERVICES AGENCY BOARD MEETING Thursday, July 20, 2017 MEMBERS PRESENT: Pat Adcock (Member of Public), Tim Brown (Member of Public), Steve Burney (Pharmacist), Bevin Corbin (Consumer), Dr. Linda Greensfelder (Psychologist), Dr. Bill Hay (Veterinarian), Donald Hill (Sheriff), Anne Jacobe (Social Worker), George Sweet (Engineer), and Dr. Belynda Veser (Psychiatrist) MEMBERS ABSENT: Duncan Chapman (Consumer), Dr. John Kornmayer (Physician), Dr. Dale McLean (Dentist), Tommy Melton (Commissioner), and Eric Waddell (Consumer) STAFF PRESENT: Gina Cashion (VSO), Pam Doty (Senior Center), Pallas Edwards (Economic Services), Joshua Kennedy (CHSA Director), Lou Parton (Social Services), Dianne Timberlake (Transportation) CALL TO ORDER Bevin Corbin, Vice-Chair called the meeting to order at 5:05 PM APPROVAL OF AGENDA- Dr. Belynda Vesser moved to approve the agenda, seconded by Dr. Linda Greensfelder and the motion carried unanimously. APPROVAL OF MINUTES- Dr. Linda Greensfelder moved to approve the May 18, 2017 minutes as written, seconded by Tim Brown and the motion carried unanimously. WELCOME NEW BOARD MEMBER- Bevin Corbin acknowledged and welcomed George Sweet to the board. George provided a brief background which included that he also serves as the engineer for North Carolina Public Health Board. He is currently retired and resides in Saluda. ECONOMIC SERVICES REPORT NCFAST continues to show erroneous data that needs to be updated/corrected by staff which slows general processing times. Long Term Care Medicaid applications are steadily increasing as well as CAP cases. Family and Children s applications requesting Retroactive coverage have increased- most of these applications come from hospitals after a parent has an inpatient admission. Regular Family and Children s applications will increase as we approach the start of the school year and open enrollment in the fall. Annual LIEAP and CIP will be starting in July 2017. Auditors were present this month and will be returning in August 2017. SOCIAL SERVICE REPORT Program Integrity personnel has been very effective this past year. Caseloads are increasing slightly. Social Work Staff under transition after 2 resignations and reassignment of responsibilities for 2 workers (both from Child Protection Assessments one to Foster Care and another will go to Adult Services once replacement hired & trained). o One new hire in June o Second new hire scheduled for July 31st Child Welfare: o 2016-2017 in comparison to average of previous 5 years Child Protective Services intakes (299) increase of 26 Total Children in Care (61) increase of 16 New children entering care (26) increase of
Foster care Payments ($688,614) increase of $434,553 ($95,586 over budgeted amount) Licensed Foster / Resource homes at end of June is 15 (an increase of 4 over the year) o 5 additional families are in training and / or licensing process Children in Legal Custody 2016-2017 o Total of 61 Began SFY with 3 Added 26 children throughout the year 16 Children received a permanent plan Reunification = 6 Adoption = 1 Guardianship = 6 Custody = 1 Aged Out = 2 Adult Services: o Work is steady in all areas o APS reports slowed some during June which is helpful given staff vacancy o Guardianship cases continue to be more complicated o Unclaimed Bodies 1 in May Possibility of 2 during July Permanency Placement Action Team o In need of new team members, only 2 remaining of the 4 o Aid in the review of child foster care placement cases o No case responsibility just an advisory roll o Time commitment is limited to review meetings only Joshua Kennedy commented on the fantastic work and efforts being levied by the staff to foster homes in county as opposed to residential facilities. Senior Services Activity Reports: Monthly, Quarterly, Year are due August 30, 2017. More participants are accessing the lunches which include new menu items from a new vendor. The Columbus facility continues to receive a high food establishment rating due in part to a dedicated staff. The major emphasis for the new year 2017-2018 is programming to promote independent living for Polk County seniors. To that end, we are scheduling seminars on home safety, networking with organizations which provide in-house assessments of safety risks and assist in the rehabilitation of housing for safe environments, establishing a telephone pal program to reduce isolation among the senior population, and participating in county-wide outreach events to provide knowledge of services to the entire county. In addition to our regular programming, we are: Sponsoring an intergenerational dance once a month to reach a wider audience for services Adding an arts class led by Janet Orselli Adding a seminar on the culture of the Old Testament Adding outreach events for Medicare beneficiaries Creating new outings for seniors within the county Exhibiting Unity in the Community collages which includes by Meeting Place participants Planning a series of small exhibitions of seniors arts and crafts Encouraging participation in the Senior Olympics and Silver Arts Competitions
Working with Hear2Help to enhance our Information and Referral activities Transportation Services TOTAL PASSENGER TRIPS Demand Response (Door to Door): 39,000 Foothills Express Passengers: 752 FUNDING FOR TRIPS ROAP Funding Increased by 11.69% to $117,775 Fares Collected Increased by 11.2% to $26,129 NC Division on Aging Block Grant total for the year: $44,434 NOTES 1. The communication system was upgraded expands coverage to be able to communicate with drivers in the surrounding areas, e.g. Asheville and Greenville. The system also increases driver safety with lapel mics for contact while they are outside the vehicle. 2. Staffing continues to be a challenge, with attracting and retaining safe, qualified workers. We are collaborating with Polk County Schools on the potential to share resources by offering summer time hours as well as day time schedules for school bus drivers. 3. We are reviewing sample policies for transporting unaccompanied minors. We wish to alleviate the risk by having parents, chaperone/monitor ride with children on public transportation. 4. Joshua Kennedy updated the board that Transportation and Senior Services were awarded additional funding via the Home Community Block Grant due to additional funding being available and the excellent record of service the groups provide. Veteran Services Trends We are observing trends that most of the veterans that are coming in, or calling, served in the Vietnam War. Some are wanting to sign up for medical or pension, for the first time. A few have come in this past month wanting as much information as possible so that they can pass on information for their widow, when they pass away. Daily Operations The VSO has been attending several trainings over the past several weeks. In addition, to the daily interaction with consumers we have had the opportunity to participate in several outreach events in the county. We are also in the planning stages for enhanced marketing options both print and electronically. o Community events are being well attended and have resulted in increased traffic. o Planning is underway for this year s Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. Gina Cashion is continuing with training to be certified in her position. Bevin Corbin inquired on the funding need for Ms. Cashion s training needs. Joshua Kennedy indicated that at this time the CHSA has budgeted enough funds to cover these expenses. CHSA Agency Summation on high level projects and discussions. CHSA Internal Operations Economic Services: We have submitted a grant request to Sisters of Mercy Fund (Phase 1 of 2) for a case manager position that will work with our staff but also partner agencies to support individuals in their transition to a more self-sustaining lifestyle. We have received notice that we were not approved for the second phase of the grant process. We have been in communication with local agencies and non-profits to collaborate with resources and settings to meet consumers where they are. Part of this effort is to provide better wrap-around
support to consumers to prevent stopping out. The partners in this effort are from across the spectrum of social determinants. Interagency Collaboration: Transportation and the Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT) have been actively looking at options to decrease costs associated with NEMT. Initial outcomes have resulted in identifying providers that are closer to Polk and scheduling consumers in groups so that Polk transit can be used which reduces costs for individual vouchers. A benefit to the CHSA model is the ability to share and reposition personnel as needed. As part of an initial review of staff time and resource gaps we identified a need to reposition a transit driver to Social Services for youth in care and their transportation needs. We had a number of social workers spending significant time transporting youth 1-8 hours depending on the length of trip. This meant less time focusing on cases and other high priority duties. We have since shifted this work to a transit driver, and since this work is being performed for social services the time is reimbursable. Social Services child protective services team has recently moved foster care cases off their docket so they can better address their high case load. Initial indicators of this effort and the transit driver reflect decreased stress on staff and better focus on priorities. Social Services: We currently have 12-15 children in residential facilities in any given month. Kim, Robin, Ruth and the remainder of the team have been diligently working to secure local families for those children to ensure better outcomes for those children. I have also made contact with the Dave Thomas Foundation (Wendy s) and we are being connected with a project they are funding in Charlotte and Asheville. The project assists local foster recruiting via the Children Homes Society. We are hoping this will aid our team as well. This effort will also affect our financial outcomes. The way the funding works is county contributions are less when a child is placed with a family. Ultimately we would like to keep the children locally if we can, however it can be challenging with limited capacity in the region and that is not always the best solution for the child. We are anticipating being able to lower our monthly average to 10 children per month in a residential setting. We historically hovered around 15-20. Transportation: We are currently testing a second software solution for scheduling and routing our consumers. This second option also provides a more might tech option to scheduling. We are calling it Uber-esque in that consumers can schedule day of their trip, or POLICY ADVOCACY COMMITTEE SB 594/HB 608 Family/Child Protection and Accountability Act Joshua Kennedy informed the board that HB 608 has passed and has been signed into law. The forced regionalization was removed from the bill. Next step is the establishment of the workgroup committee to review how best to improve/enhance the child welfare system in North Carolina. There are some beneficial pieces to the bill regarding child protective services. There still remains a question on how to fund these requirements. This will also be a topic for the workgroup to review. POLICY ADVOCACY COMMITTEE GENERAL REPORT Linda Greensfelder informed the board that the committee has been meeting monthly since the last CHSA meeting. Committee members include Dr. Kornmayer, Steve Burney, Tim Brown, Bill Hay and me. Would love to have another member. More participants are encouraged. She mentioned that the committee will be skipping regular August meeting due to vacations next meeting will be Tuesday September 12, 2107 5:00 pm at Womack building.
Linda also informed the board that Joshua Kennedy continues to keep the committee updated on Senate Bill on foster care reform as well as high level issues related to child care, transportation, mental/behavioral health and substance abuse (per Josh s previous report.) The committee is working to identify a specific area where we believe CHSA efforts are most needed and provide the most benefit for the community. They have narrowed their suggested focus to Substance abuse, with a defined target population of juveniles and/or repeat offenders. To make contact with these groups, they have been looking at captive audience settings: probation and parole, school system, medical homes, employers, DSS, TIEC (future hangout location). With the current planning of a County Opioid Forum, they are suggesting the CHSA use our energies to engender strong community support for forum participation and support for action items outlined in the forum. They suspect based on preliminary conversations with various committees throughout Polk County that most likely we will observe a coalescing of sorts around two focus populations; youth (juveniles) and repeat offenders. These other organic conversations happen to align with what P&A committee have seen as a focal point based on the data and conversations we have reviewed internally., and during the forum champion selection of the juvenile and repeat offender target population as the County s area of focus. 2017 OPIOID FORUM Joshua Kennedy informed the board that the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners has requested each county in North Carolina to take action to resolve the opioid epidemic plaguing North Carolina. The CHSA Director and the County Manager have been tasked with this effort. They have formed a steering committee of interested partners that include members from various existing groups in the county such as: Polk Substance Abuse Coalition (subcommittee of PF3 Health Coalition), Health Department, CHSA, County Administration, School System, Local Law Enforcement, and Vaya. The steering committee will be organizing a forum in October 2017 to include a strategic planning process by community members from all over Polk County. This will hopefully help to inform a grant application for Drug Free Communities grant that could be submitted within 18-24 months. More information to be provided at the next CHSA Board Member. SHIIP FEDERAL FUNDING CUTS Pam Doty updated the board on potential federal funding cuts to the program. The NC SHIIP Program has asked groups though the state to aid in the advocacy The Polk County program saved Polk residents $464,820 last year (2016), and helped 413 consumers. Medicare is difficult to navigate and can be confusing, by having local staff provided by the CHSA and funded by federal dollars has been significant benefit to Polk. NEW BOARD MEMBER ORIENTATION PROCESS Bevin Corbin asked for affirmation to adequately prepare new board members and formally greet them to the board by proposing the Personnel/Nominations Committee review a Board Member Orientation protocol. Joshua Kennedy has started a draft board member manual for review and additions by the
committee. Once the committee has completed this process it would come back to the board for full approval. Board agreed by acclimation. TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY BOARD Dianne Timberlake updated the board that the CHSA has inquired to NCDOT about consolidating the TAB board under the CHSA as a subcommittee to increase efficiency of strategies and staff time. FINANCE COMMITTEE Bevin Corbin updated the board that the CHSA s fiscal year budget has been approved by the county commissioners at their June 2017 meeting. As part of that approval our new VSO is now full-time. PERSONNEL/NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE - CHSA BOARD APPLICATION Bevin Corbin presented applications for Community Member Aaron Greene, Superintendent and Nurse Mary (Patty) Martin The Nominations Committee informed the board that they have met and reviewed the qualifications of Aaron Greene and Patty Martin for membership to the board. Having met all the prerequisite requirements the committee unanimously recommended to the board that they approve Mr. Greene s and Ms. Martin s applications. Dr. Bill Hay motioned to approve the applications, George Sweet seconded the motion. ADJOURNMENT- Dr. Bill Hay motioned to adjourn, and Dr. Linda Greensfelder seconded, unanimously approved