STOKES COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES
MINUTES
DECEMBER 28, 2011
The regular
meeting of the Stokes County Board of Social Services was held on Wednesday, December
28, 2011 at the Social Services Building in Danbury. Mrs. Jan Culler, Chair, called the meeting to
order at 3:10 p.m. Other board members
present were Mrs. Patricia Hairston, Mr. Jimmy Walker and Mrs. Kristy Preston
(DSS Director). Staff present was Ms.
Patty St. Hilaire. Commissioner Ronda
Jones was also present. Mrs. Frances
Allen and Mrs. Linda Hicks were unable to attend.
Mrs. Culler
welcomed everyone.
Mrs. Culler asked
if there were any adjustments to be made to the agenda. There were no adjustments to be made.
Mrs. Culler asked
for approval of the agenda. Mr. Jimmy
Walker made a motion to approve the agenda.
Mrs. Patricia Hairston seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
Mrs. Culler asked
for approval of the consent agenda including the minutes from the November 30,
2011 meeting. Mrs. Patricia Hairston made
a motion to approve the consent agenda including the minutes. Mr. Jimmy Walker seconded and the motion
passed unanimously.
Under Division
Reports, Mrs. Preston stated that she did not have any other information to
share except what was in the packet unless someone had questions. There were no other questions or concerns
about any of the reports.
There were no
comments during the public comments section.
Under the Director’s
Report, Mrs. Preston stated that the DSS Agency Reorganization was approved by
the County Commissioners at their meeting on December 12, 2011. This included the reclassification of three
positions, one being the Day Care Coordinator reclassed to an Income
Maintenance Caseworker III, a Social Worker III being reclassed to a Social
Work Supervisor II and an Income Maintenance Supervisor I being reclassed to an
Income Maintenance Supervisor II. The
Office of State Personnel has also signed off on these. This reorganization also included a cost
saving to the county. Mrs. Preston
stated that there were some changes that would be coming to Social Services in
the next two to five years that will change the way business is done. A lot of the work will be automated which
will give us the opportunity to look at ways to shift work or workers that
could also result in some cost savings.
Mr. Walker asked about the agency’s automation at this time. Mrs. Preston stated that compared to some
counties, we were somewhat behind and compared to others we were above.
Next Mrs. Preston
and Ms. St. Hilaire gave a summary of the Christmas program for 2011. Mrs. Preston stated that we will be having a
wrap up meeting with Salvation Army sometime the first of the year. We will discuss how the program went, what
worked, didn’t work, any changes that need
to be made for
next year. Ms. St. Hilaire stated that
the partnership with Salvation Army went fairly smooth this year. The Salvation Army served at least 136
families at the King location and Walnut Cove Fire Department served 135
families. King Outreach ministry served
87 families and we had a few churches in the area that served around 50
families. We have not received all of
our numbers yet, but it looks as if we served somewhere around 900 to 1000
children in Stokes County this year.
Walnut Cove Fire Department had a drawing for fifty turkeys and
hams. Each family also left with a bag
of food. Mrs. Preston stated that the
Salvation Army named Mr. Gerald Jones as their volunteer coordinator for the
collection of toys. Mrs. Preston stated
that due to Mr. Jones being known across the county, she thought this also
helped in our efforts being joined together.
Also included in
the board packets was a letter that one of our social workers sent to a group
home. We received much care and concern
for a young man that was placed there.
This young man had been homeless and then also endured a heart breaking
loss of a child. With the support and
guidance he has received he has been able to complete his goals and look to the
future ahead.
Included in the
packet is a chart with Compliments, Congratulations and Complaints. Since the last board meeting we have had one complaint.
Mrs. Preston believes that complaint to be resolved after contacting the family
member and answering her questions. There were four compliments, one for adult
services, one for program integrity, one for food and nutrition, and one for adult
Medicaid.
There was no
discussion under Unfinished Business.
Under New
Business Mrs. Preston stated that one of the goals this past year had been for
Social Services to identify a mission statement or tag line for the
agency. This would be used to guide our
work in all of our programs. We sought
input from all staff and one staff recommended “Helping Families Help
Themselves”. After much discussion this
was changed slightly by the Management Team to “Helping People Help
Themselves”. It was stated that we don’t
just help families, we also help individuals.
After more thought and discussion the Management Team has chosen this
one for recommendation to the board to be our tag line for the agency. We think this is what all the units need to
be about, helping people help themselves.
There was much discussion among the board concerning the statement. Mrs. Preston shared a few of the other ideas
as well as some from other departments in the county. After some discussion Mrs. Patricia Hairston
made a motion to accept “Helping People Help Themselves” as the Social Services
tag line. Mr. Jimmy Walker seconded and
the motion passed unanimously.
Next, Mrs.
Preston discussed the Delta Alert System that Stokes County has acquired. It is a system that is being made available
within the county to notify our citizens when there is critical information
that needs to go out quickly to them.
Mrs. Preston stated that she thought it might be something that DSS
could benefit from. Mrs. Preston shared
a couple of examples, one being a natural disaster where families would be
eligible for emergency food stamps. This
could be completed at a satellite location.
Included in the packet is information on the goals, uses, authorized
users and procedures for use of the system.
Mr. Walker stated that the Health Department had acquired this system
and now it was thought that other departments might benefit from this as
well. After much discussion among the
board it was decided that Mrs. Preston would compile a formal policy of how DSS
would use this and what the expectations would be for DSS and present to the
board at the January meeting.
Mr. Walker asked
about the Senate Bill 433 and what was the latest on this. Mrs. Preston stated that it did not pass this
time but the Director’s Association thinks it will come back at a later date. Mr. Walker also asked about Mrs. Preston’s
evaluation. Mrs. Culler stated that we
had board members absent the last two meetings and she thinks all board members
should be in attendance when this is brought before the board. Mrs. Preston stated that she would add this
to the January agenda.
Mr. Jimmy Walker
made a motion to go into closed session per G.S. 143-318.11 (a) (1) and (a)
(5). Mrs. Patricia Hairston seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
Mr. Jimmy Walker
made a motion to return to regular session.
Mrs. Patricia Hairston seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
There being no
further business the meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m. on a motion by Mr. Jimmy
Walker. Mrs. Patricia Hairston seconded
and the motion passed unanimously.
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Board Chair
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Secretary
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Date