DATE: February 6, 2024
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Sanja Bugay, Director, Department of Social Services
SUBJECT: Salary Resolution Amendment
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Approve Amendment to the Salary Resolution deleting one vacant Job Specialist position and adding twenty-one positions to the Department of Social Services Org 5610, effective February 19, 2024 as reflected in Appendix D.
2. Authorize the County Administrative Officer to delete like-funded positions as deemed necessary if there is a reduction in State or Federal funding that impacts ability to sustain the positions as reflected in Appendix D.
REPORT
There is no increase in Net County Cost (NCC) associated with the recommended actions. The recommended actions will increase staffing in Child Welfare Services, adjust position composition in the In-Home Services Program and add support positions to overall Department services. The recommended staffing changes will enhance administrative oversight capacity, build infrastructure to support maximization of community and contracted services and utilization of appropriate funding sources for support services to families as well as increase direct services for children and families in the child welfare programs.
The second recommended action has been included to emphasize the unknowns regarding the current economy and the associated State budget. The Department commits to adjusting staff as necessary in the event funding is decreased, and requests support of these actions in support of the Department’s plans to implement workflow process adjustments to meet service demands and alleviate the workload of existing staff in the most cost-effective manner. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
If your Board does not approve the recommended actions, the Department would continue to provide service support and administrative oversight up to our current capacity and the Department’s organizational structure would remain unchanged. The Department will also face a shortage of staff to effectively provide client services. This shortage will directly impact crucial aspects such as the assessment of suitable services, facilitation of family and child visitations, establishment of long-term family connections, and facilitation of adoptions. These services play a vital role in safeguarding and minimizing trauma and harm experienced by both our adult and child and family populations.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in NCC associated with the recommended actions. The FY 2023-24 cost for the recommended actions ($758,729) will be offset with State and Federal Social Services funds ($726,721), 2011 Realignment ($16,530) in lieu of State General Funds for Child Welfare Services and Adult Protective Services Programs that were realigned to counties through AB 118, 1991 Realignment ($14,307) and the required NCC ($1,171), which offsets the GR Program share of cost. The 1991 Realignment and Net County Cost will not be increased due to maximizing State and Federal program funds and will be absorbed by the Department of Social Services Org 5610 using existing budgeted appropriations. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues are included in the Department’s Org 5610 FY 2023-24 Adopted Budget.
It is important to note that the recruitment process for additional staff is lengthy, therefore cost incurred in the current year will be covered with appropriations and estimated revenues in the Department's Org 5610 FY 2023-24 Adopted Budget.
DISCUSSION:
Approval of the recommended actions will allow the Department to add a net of twenty (20) positions (add twenty-one (21) and delete one (1) position) and reallocate eight (8) positions from the In-Home Supportive Services Program to the Child Welfare Services Programs. Attachment A reflects the position changes by program area and classification as well as the annualized cost of these positions. The attachment also includes proposed organization charts for the Central Resource Unit as well as an overall leadership team.
The position requests would address programmatic and workload requirements in In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS), Child Welfare Services and Adoptions, and Administration.
In-Home Supportive Services
The recommended action would result in no net increase in positions to the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program and net savings of $49,012 in the current year. The recommended action would add eight (8) positions to the IHSS program and transfer out eight (8) positions from IHSS to the Child Welfare Services program resulting in no net position additions and overall savings in IHSS.
The IHSS program has experienced a steady increase in applications and cases for several years due to both the aging population and changes in regulations that have expanded program eligibility. For several years now, due to insufficient funding and staffing, the Department has not met the State standards for processing of application and reassessments and has been under the State corrective action plan.
To optimize funding and staffing resources and effectively address the growing workload demands, a comprehensive workload assessment was undertaken to evaluate the existing business processes and identify opportunities for streamlining and enhancing services. The objective was to develop an improved model that not only reduces costs but also enhances client services. As a result of this assessment, our program has identified a promising opportunity to enhance client services by introducing Social Worker Aides to our Call Center. Furthermore, the addition of eligibility staff to support the IHSS Intake workload would not only maximize Medi-Cal Funding but also expedite the monitoring and management of applications.
To enhance and optimize the Department’s business processes, IHSS is requesting the addition of six (6) Social Work Aides. These positions will be dedicated to receiving and promptly responding to calls from potential IHSS recipients and providers. Allocating these resources to the IHSS/PA Call Center will streamline the application process, allowing Social Worker staff to focus on conducting home visits and providing ongoing support to existing clients.
The Department is also requesting to add two (2) Eligibility Workers to effectively manage the IHSS Intake caseload, which currently stands at approximately 1,240 cases. The primary responsibilities of these Eligibility Workers will include monitoring the caseload for the submission of required forms, promptly denying applicants who do not meet the qualifications for IHSS and expediting the processing of IHSS applications by facilitating the approval of Medi-Cal applications. Additionally, the Eligibility Workers will collaborate with Social Work staff to address any Medi-Cal-related issues and ensure timely completion of monthly or quarterly reports.
The incorporation of the classifications into the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) framework will facilitate the redirection of calls and intake responsibilities to lower-level classifications. This strategic reallocation of tasks will effectively optimize the utilization of Social Work staff's time, enabling them to concentrate on critical activities such as reassessments, approval of new IHSS recipients, and enhancing adherence to State regulations. By prioritizing these essential functions, the proposed approach aims to safeguard the well-being of recipients, ensuring their continued safety within the comfort of their own homes, while simultaneously mitigating the risk of institutionalization.
To offset the costs of the position adds as well as to maintain reasonable workload, the Department will transfer out eight (8) Social Worker positions to the Child Welfare program. The Social Worker Supervisor of the eight (8) transferred out positions will supervise the six (6) Social Work Aides and two (2) Eligibility Worker new positions.
Child Welfare Services and Adoptions
The recommended action would result in a net increase of seventeen (17) positions to the Child Welfare Services programs and a current year cost of $617,564. The recommended action would add nine (9) positions to the Child Welfare Services programs along with a transfer of eight (8) positions from the IHSS program.
The child welfare system is a complex structure that requires a cooperative effort from the community to strengthen families and protect children. This system is perpetually evolving, confronting new challenges, demands, and legislative requirements that call for innovative solutions to ensure the safety and well-being of vulnerable children and families.
The Department is requesting the addition of seven (7) Social Worker Aides and two (2) Social Worker Supervisors. Two (2) positions would be added to support Adoptions units in processing paperwork and other support functions aimed at reducing adoption finalization time frames. One (1) position would be added to the Resource Family Support functions to enhance and support family finding and quality parenting initiative and to reinstitute creation of health folders for each youth. Three (3) positions would be added for staffing of the Transition Shelter Care Facility more commonly known as Mod C. During the past two years, Mod C has operated by borrowing staff from other functions in order to have sufficient staffing for direct childcare and watching of kids. While this essential need was covered, it resulted in a negative impact in having sufficient staffing for visitation, transportation of kids, court support, and other functions social work aide staffing perform in support of social workers. This addition would dedicate staffing to Mod C and restore the level of services in other areas that directly support families and foster youth. Additionally, the increase of social worker aides for child welfare and adoptions will relieve social workers of administrative tasks and allow them to focus on case management functions. These changes aim to ensure timely service delivery, comply with State regulations, and achieve positive long-term outcomes for families. The one (1) Social Work Supervisor position is requested to ensure adequate supervision, span of control and support for the social work aide staff positions.
To assure the Department is meeting service needs in the most cost-effective manner, the Department is strategically shifting resources from the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program to Child Welfare Services (CWS). Specifically, eight (8) Social Workers will be transferred into CWS from IHSS. The Department is requesting the addition of one (1) Social Work Supervisor to oversee the Social Workers. By reallocating/adding these positions, the Department will be able to also provide dedicated Social Work positions to the Mod C Transitional Shelter and create a secondary support unit for high-needs youth that have not had stability in the child welfare system and their placements which result in high utilization of the shelter facility. Additionally, the Department will dedicate two (2) of these positions for more intensive training of emergency response social workers to ensure that up-front efforts of safety planning, active efforts to connect kids and families to services, enhanced family finding and supports are provided at the earliest touch points with the child welfare system. These efforts are aimed at reducing entries into foster care as well as facilitating more robust case plans and connections to services that help families be more successful in family reunification.
Child Welfare Services - Central Resource Unit (Central Desk) - Phase I
The Department is proposing to restore a Central Resource Unit (formerly in the Department referred to as a Central Desk function) that provided a centralized support to child welfare social workers in helping them connect families to contracted and community resources. These resources would help families with accessing court ordered and other needed services that would help with reunification. The Department is requesting to delete one (1) Job Specialist and add one (1) Senior Staff Analyst position to start establishment of this function with a current year cost of $21,098. While this effort would be first established for Child Welfare Services, long term, this unit would also support adult services and welfare to work families. The Central Resource Unit will be expected to gather and build an array of resources for the consumers served throughout the Department. The Central Resource Unit would be responsible for knowing existing Departmental consumer contracted services and available internal funding, county partner’s contracted consumer services (Behavioral Health/ Public Health/ Library), and external partners non-county funded consumer services. The expectation for the Centralized Resource Unit would be to track service cost against different available funding to assure maximization of Fed/State funds for Departmental contracts as well as maximizing available service resources from county and non-county partners.
Administration
The recommended action would result in an increase of three (3) positions to the DSS Administration and a current year cost of $169,079. The Department is a large and complex organization comprised of over 2,700 staff that serve approximately one half of Fresno County’s population through the administration of Child Welfare Services, Adult Services, Veterans Services, Public Assistance, Employment Services and Homeless programs. These programs focus on providing temporary and supportive services to individuals and families in need, while assisting them to achieve their goal of self-sufficiency. DSS programs also address basic safety, protection and permanency and needs of children and vulnerable adults and include 24/7 services for these populations.
On November 15, 2013, the Board approved the addition of an Assistant Director position to oversee the Department’s Administrative Branch. On August 17, 2015, the position was reclassified to Deputy Director and has remained as such to this day.
Since then, the Department has identified a need for a highly qualified individual to assist the Director in administering services and programs. The Department is requesting an addition of an Assistant Director position to serve as the second highest executive position within the Department, acting on behalf of the Director in partnership with various local agencies, the State, and across County departments to reduce duplication of efforts, implement Statewide initiatives, such as Cal AIM (Medi-Cal transformation), and maximize use of resources while tackling major redesigns in information technology system changes. The increased presence at the State level would also help the Department shape policy and regulations of social service programs to meet the needs of the community. Ultimately, the Assistant Director would expand the capacity of the Department’s executive team to develop and implement programs and operational objectives within legal requirements, County ordinances, policies, and procedural guidelines with the goal of improving outcomes for the families served.
The recommended Administrative Assistant and Program Technician positions will provide administrative and technical support to the Assistant Director.
Fiscal Sustainability
The current year cost for the recommended actions is $758,729. The annualized costs of the recommended actions are $1,793,666 of which $1,715,001 (95.6%) is funded with State and Federal funds, $75,785 (4.2%) is funded with 1991 and 2011 Realignment, and $2,879 (0.2%) is funded with Net County Cost. The federal funds reflect Title XIX and Title IVE entitlement funding which is accessible to DSS programs based on activities and eligible expenditures. These funds are not capped. The State funding reflects Child Welfare Services allocations and specialized funding approved through the Families First Prevention Act, Child and Family Teaming and Family Finding funds. Due to limited staffing and capacity to implement required initiatives, the Department has left these funds underutilized in the previous years. The implementation of the recommended actions would allow for implementation of necessary programs to improve outcomes for children and families while utilizing available State and Federal funding for these purposes. The implementation of these initiatives would also lead to improved exists to permanency and reduced entries into care, which will lead to reduction in costs for Foster Care Assistance 6410 budget.
The recommended actions related to the IHSS program reflect an actual net cost decrease in administration of this program.
The Department recognizes that the current State fiscal picture is unstable and while the current recommendation for positions are supported and sustainable, the State budget may lead to unanticipated programmatic and funding changes for these and other DSS programs. If the upcoming State budget results in funding changes that results in insufficient funding for the requested positions, the second recommended action would allow the County Administrative Officer to delete these or like-funded positions to ensure that there is no negative impact to Net County Cost in this or upcoming budget cycle.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #40, August 11, 2015
BAI #6, November 5, 2013
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Attachment A
Appendix D
CAO ANALYST:
Ronald Alexander