DCDSS News

GOALS AND OUTCOMES

2008-2009 Goals and Outcomes

Dare County Department of Social Services

The Dare County Department of Social Services will focus on the following goals and outcomes:

1.  Children and families will be safe and reside in stable environments.

1. Children who were victims of substantiated abuse and/or neglect or services recommended,  will not have another substantiated or indicated report within a six month period, before or after the identified report.

2.  Families receiving Case Management Services will successfully complete their case plan.

3. Children receiving Case Management services will remain in the physical

care of a member of their family when possible and appropriate.

4. Working families in Dare County who are potentially eligible and in need of day care services will receive day care subsidy assistance.

Note:  In FY 08-09, a waiting list was maintained for 6 out of 12 months due to lack of funding, with numbers reaching as high as 234 children.  Many parents who were potentially eligible did not need child care (high unemployment, only part-time care needed, another adult in the home was providing care).  The lack of licensed child care facilities also prevented parents from receiving assistance.

5. Eligible children in Dare County for whom day care subsidy assistance is requested will receive assistance.

Note:  When day care funding became available, many parents contacted on the waiting list were no longer employed and did not qualify for assistance.  Numerous families failed to respond to the letter alerting them of the available assistance.

6. Families voluntarily accepting at-risk services will not have a substantiated child abuse/neglect report during the time period at-risk services are active.

Note:  Out of seven cases, none were substantiated.

7. Families voluntarily accepting prevention services will not have a substantiated child abuse/neglect report during the time period prevention services are active.

Note:  There were 4 substantiated reports out of 43 prevention cases.

8. Individuals below 21 years of age who are potentially eligible for Family & Children’s Medicaid or Health Choice will receive Family & Children’s Medicaid or Health Choice.

Note:  An estimated 3,505 individuals were potentially eligible for Family & Children’s Medicaid or Health Choice.  Of these, 3,318 individuals received assistance through Family & Children’s Medicaid or Health Choice in FY 2008-2009.

9. Individuals potentially income eligible for Food Stamps will receive Food Stamps.

Note:  The percentage of individuals receiving Food & Nutrition Services increased by 27% in FY 08-09 compared to FY 07-08.  The number of new applications (households which have never received) increased by 27% when comparing FY 08-09 to FY 07-08. 

2.     Children in the agency’s custody achieve safety and permanence.

1. Children in the custody of Dare County will be protected from abuse and neglect.

2. Children in foster care will be reunified with their parent or previous caretaker within twelve months of entering substitute care.

Note:  Of the 48 children who left foster care within the FY 08-09, 23 were reunified with their parent(s) within twelve months of entering care.

3. Children who were previously in foster care will experience stability and permanence in their placements and be protected from further abuse, neglect and/or re-entry into foster care.

Note:  Of the 82 children in foster care within the FY 08-09, 15 had previously been in foster care.  Two of these children had been in foster care in other states prior to residing in Dare County.

4. Children will be legally adopted within 24 months of that being established as the permanent plan for them.

Note:  Of the twelve children for whom adoption was established as the permanent plan, nine were adopted within twenty-four months of that occurring.  It was not possible to finalize the adoptions of two other children within the twenty-four month mark because of legal appeals filed by the birth parent.  Fortunately, these have now been finalized.

5.  Children will experience no more than two placements while in out-of-home care.

Note:  Of the 82 children in foster care within FY 08-09 fiscal year, 10 had more than two placements.  Five of these were older teens with many behavioral and emotional issues, who are no longer in the custody of the Department.

6. Children placed in group care will be over the age of eleven years.

Note:  Of the 82 children in foster care within FY 08-09, 1 eleven year old child was placed in the Wright Place for Youth, an emergency shelter belonging to the county.  It was necessary to place him at the Wright Place after his foster parents requested he be removed from their home, due to his extreme behaviors.  It is significant to note that this child was just two months shy of his twelfth birthday when placed.  All other children placed in group care were over the age of 12.

3.     Economically disadvantaged children and adults become appropriately self-sufficient

1. Former Work First employment recipients will remain off Work First due to employment.

Note:  A total of 16 WFFA employment recipients were removed from cash payment due to income from employment.  All 16 recipients have remained off WFFA due to employment.

2. Work First employment recipients will meet the minimum required participation hours.

Note:  50% is an indicator set by the state.

3. Former Benefit Diversion and/or Work First recipients receiving 200% Services during FY 08-09 will remain off Benefit Diversion and/or Work First during FY 08-09.

Note:  Twenty-four former Work First and/or Benefit Diversion recipients received 200% Services in FY 08-09.  Of these former recipients 83% remained off Benefit Diversion and/or Work First during FY 08-09.

4. Households will receive financial assistance through emergency services a maximum of two times per year.

Note:  Four hundred and twelve households received assistance through emergency services in FY 08-09.  Fifty-six of those households received assistance more than two times.

4.     Programs are efficiently administered while maintaining the highest fiscal  and programmatic integrity

1. Collections for overpayments or over-issuances will be increased by 10%.

Note:  Total collections for FY 07-08 were $7,505.  This increased to $11,572 during FY 08-09. 

2. Active cases consisting of a client error in collections status will pay back erroneous benefits received.

3. All available Federal, State and grant revenues will be collected.

4. Staff turnover (excluding in-home staff) will be less than 15%.

Note:  Of the 9 staff that left employment during Fy 08-09, four of them were in the clerical unit.  This unit had a 50% turnover rate. 

5. Eligibility for Economic Services programs will be monitored for timeliness and accuracy.

       Applications Report Card for Work First Family Assistance and Medicaid

       Note:  The agency passed the report card measuring average processing time and percentage processed timely during FY 08-09.

  5.  Vulnerable adults will be safe and healthy and will live in stable and least restrictive settings

1. Vulnerable adults will not be repeat victims of confirmed abuse, neglect, or exploitation.

Note:  Twelve of the 61 adults confirmed/substantiated for abuse, neglect or exploitation had prior reports.  Forty-nine or 80% did not.

2. Vulnerable adults living in licensed facilities will not be abused, neglected or exploited.

Note:  There were eight confirmed instances of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of residents of adult care facilities in Dare County in FY 08-09 out of 180 licensed beds.

3. Vulnerable adults will live in the most appropriate and least restrictive setting of their choice.

Note:  Only 1 out of 294 adult clients with service plans or protection plans refused to sign the plan.

4. Adult clients receiving support services will experience less social isolation and hunger and will have appropriate medical care.

Note:  Out of the 241 adult clients receiving prevention or support services during the year, 232 did not have a report or subsequent report of abuse, caretaker neglect, self-neglect, or exploitation.

5.  Vulnerable adults will not have their income or resources diverted illegally to the profit or advantage of any other person or entity.

Note:  Of 16 substantiated cases of financial exploitation, 11 adults have regained their assets or resources for their own use.

6.  Disabled and elderly adults in Dare county whose incomes are at or below the federal poverty level will receive medical assistance.

       Note:  Statistics from the NC Division of Aging and Adult Services website show 7,311 adults age sixty and older in Dare County in fiscal 2008.   Poverty level statistics for Dare County for those 55 and older averaged 16.9% per DAAS, indicating a potentially eligible group of 899 elderly and disabled adults.  Medicaid for the Aged, Blind and Disabled, Medicaid for Qualified Beneficiaries, and Special Assistance for the Aged or Disabled statistics for Dare County on 6/30/09 were 743 eligible clients.

7. The waiting list for in-home services will not exceed 33% of the number of clients served in the most recent fiscal year.

Note:  One hundred fifty six clients were served with in-home aide services during the report year.  No average was obtainable, but the current inquiry list of 31 was felt by staff to be an accurate average level for the year.  The inquiry list has been noted to be significantly lower than in previous years.

8. Clients on the inquiry list for in-home services will receive the service within six months.

Note:  Of 46 clients who began receiving in-home aide services during the twelve months, 35 of them or 77% waited less than six months to receive the service.  The average wait time was 3.75 months; however, APS clients waited an average of only 18.5 days to begin aide services.

9. Staff turnover among in-home aides will not exceed 25%.

      Note:  Two in-home aides left employment during the year out of 25 positions.         

10.  Hatteras Island residents receiving services from the major Adult Services programs will increase by 10% each year.

       Note:  APS reports from Hatteras Island increased 109% from 11 in FY 07-08 to 23 in FY 08-09.  Referrals to CAP programs were made or assessed for 2 clients on Hatteras in FY 08-09 compared to 0 in FY 07-08.  The SA in-home program remained level at 2 recipients each year.  In-home services clients increased from 16 served in FY 07-08 to 23 served in FY 08-09.  The totals were 29 clients served last year and 50 served this year, an increase of 72% of residents of Hatteras Island receiving Adult Services programs.

6.   The Department will be a leader in Dare County on community social issues affecting adults, children, youth and families and will build the general public’s knowledge about the impact of services provided by DSS

1. The agency will participate in identified partnerships, coalitions and task forces within the community addressing issues such as:

   • Housing

   • Children

   • Mental Health/Substance Abuse

   • Medical/Health Issues

   • Aging

   • Cultural Diversity

   • Emergency Services

   • Transportation

   • Substance Abuse

ACHIEVED

       B.  An annual public information plan will be developed and implemented.

            ACHIEVED

Dare Social Services Assists with a Variety of Needs

Where do you go if you are in a crisis situation, have exhausted all of your known resources and need help finding answers?   Many people do not know that the Dare County Department of Social Services can help with a variety of needs.  The Emergency Services Intake Unit at Social Services employs two social Workers, Heather Bonnar and Patty Noel, who assist people in working through crisis situations.

“We see people that are experiencing a broad range of emergency situations.  It can be pretty intense, because we are dealing with people’s emotions.  Many are scared, while others may be worried or anxious because they have a situation they feel is beyond their control,” states Bonnar.

The emergencies vary as much as the people the department sees.  People visit to request help with food, power bills, medicine, shelter, and clothing.  If someone has a turnoff notice from the power company and they are unable to pay it – maybe they had unexpected expenses or a reduction in income – they can visit the office and complete an application to see if they qualify for assistance.  This can prevent a person from going without heat in cold weather, or cooling when the weather is extremely hot.  In some instances, the department can also help with fuel if that is the person’s main heating source. 

“There are misconceptions concerning services provided and about the ‘typical client’ served by the Department ,” states Bonnar.  In some programs, clients do not have to be United States citizens to receive assistance or to receive services.  Citizenship requirements vary from program to program. There is no such thing as a “typical client”.  Anyone can get into an emergency situation and there is nothing wrong with asking for help.  A parent can be involved in an accident rendering them unable to work for a period of time, thus potentially putting the family into a crisis situation.  All people are subject to things beyond their control.

The Emergency Intake Unit can provide help with some long-term needs.  “We have helped people complete paperwork for long-term disability needs because they have a difficult time doing so on their own,” says Noel.  The Department of Social Services has also helped people by contacting hospitals and credit card companies to work out affordable payment arrangements or by offering help with budgeting which can often prevent emergencies from happening.

Case management is another service provided by the Emergency Services Intake Unit.  “This service is available to families or individuals who feel they may benefit from having someone meet with them on a regular basis.  We help with parenting skills, budgeting, completing paperwork, and referring people to other agencies in the community that provide services or support,” said Noel.  The service is voluntary and based on individual needs.  The individual or family is encouraged to prioritize the needs they want to work on during the meeting time.  Meetings can be held at the office or at the person’s home.

If you would like to apply for assistance, you simply need to visit the Dare County Department of Social Services at 107 Exeter Street in Manteo.  You may also contact the office for more information at 475-5500.  No appointments are necessary.