Committee on Family, Health and Human Services Minutes
April 3, 2007
Committee Members
In Attendance: Judy Myers, Chair, William Burton, Kenneth Jenkins, Ursula LaMotte, Lois Bronz, Clinton Young and Marty Rogowsky.
In Attendance: CEO: Bill Randolph. DSS: Commissioner Kevin Mahon, 1st Deputy Commissioner Nancy Travers BOL: Joanne Sold, Rick Pezzulla, Louise Gantress, Betsy Desoye, Neal? and Melanie Montalto.
Items Discussed: Kevin Mahon, Commissioner of the Department of Social Services and First Deputy Commissioner Nancy Travers provided the Committee with an update on Child Protective Services.
Minutes
Chairwoman Myers called the meeting to order at 12:05 p.m.
Commissioner Mahon explained that the current organizational chart that was handed out will be outdated in a month due to the retirement of Marion LaFranco. They will not be replacing her, so they will now have four deputy commissioners and divide the work accordingly.
Commissioner Mahon explained that due to recent widely publicized child neglect & abuse cases the schools in the County are paying more attention to reporting all students who are absent without an acceptable reason. This results in an increase in investigations for CPS. The department is currently doing well with this because the 2007 budget allowed DSS to hire 23 more workers, but this increase in cases will impact the budget for 2008. The schools have also been asking for training in identifying possible CPS cases. They predict a possible increase of 150 cases a month, mostly from Yonkers and Mount Vernon.
First Deputy Commissioner Nancy Travers explained that while many school districts have a system in place for reporting, Yonkers does not. Last year CPS received 350 referrals from Yonkers alone.
Regarding caseworker escorts, Nancy Travers explained that CPS has contracted with SSC Incorporated. We currently have 9 in Yonkers, 3 in Mount Vernon, 2 in White Plains, and 2 in Peekskill. They are currently working well, and DSS is considering expanding the service to the emergency services operation. A robust training program for the escorts is in place and the DSS staff has been thrilled with their service. Cultural competency is part of their training.
Legislator Burton asked why they are no longer using WESTHAB’s service. Commissioner Mahon explained that there was a requirement that DSS put out a bid for the service and SSC Inc. was selected for the bid, however they were not dissatisfied with the service WESTHAB was providing.
All of the positions that were added to CPS in 2006 have been filled and employees are in place.
The new employee manuals are online and they are switching to a web-based system to make it faster and easier. The Committee has been given access to the manual website. The site is being worked on and the current version is a test and it has not been moved out to the staff as of yet. The next generation of the manual will include links to foster care and other areas of DSS so everyone involved with a particular child will be able to access all of the information for that case.
Several of the caseworkers are using laptops for note taking, and they are pleased with the ability to take their notes promptly. Commissioner Mahon is waiting for approval to give more caseworkers laptops; there is concern about the data’s security.
Commissioner Mahon explained the results of the Customer Service survey that was sent out to DSS customers. People complained about wait times and unreturned phone calls. Changes have been made to make wait times shorter and to make sure customers are on the correct lines. Directors are instructed to do monthly customer service surveys and report to Commissioner Mahon. Commissioner Mahon also goes to the district offices periodically to conduct his own surveys. He stated they still have to work on returning phone calls but the wait times in the offices are shorter for all of their services.
Commissioner Mahon stated that the computer system has always had the ability to log visits, it was just a matter of workers inputting them. They now run QC’s monthly to make sure logs are up to date and accurate.
Legislator Burton asked if there has been any progress in reducing workers entering fraudulent information regarding caseworker visits. Commissioner Mahon stated that random sweeps have helped to reduce this.
Legislator Rogowsky asked if it is inappropriate to put GPS systems in the workers cars. Commissioner Mahon stated that they tried GPS in workers’ phones, but found it to be an expensive way to find that 99% of the people were where they were supposed to be.
The investigative training techniques with the Department of Public Safety has occurred and refreshers have also been provided.
Nancy Travers explained that we do not currently have a differential response pilot in Peekskill or Mount Vernon. This is due to the lack of state legislation which made it too difficult to continue. While the Department liked the approach, the new approach being used is family engagement. Workers still have to do an investigation, but they also try to engage family. This approach has been very successful.
Commissioner Mahon and Deputy Commissioner Nancy Travers both explained a new initiative in Massachusetts called “teaming” which allows workers to share individual cases in group settings. Workers are learning how to handle cases better, and it has been found that poor performers are stepping up due to peer pressure from other workers in the group. They explained that they are so impressed that they want to make a proposal to use teaming in the 2008 budget. This will cause some staffing additions but not many. They said they will come back in the summer to discuss further. They will have to bring someone on board to figure out how to implement this.
Commissioner Mahon explained that note taking has improved to 87% of notes being on time and in the system. Worker records them vocally and they are transferred into a computer system where a stenographer then types them into the system. Legislator Burton would like to know where the stenographers are located as he would like to keep jobs in the area, most importantly in the country. Commissioner Mahon said he will find out.
Commissioner Mahon said that the white paper on a Westchester County Training & Conference Center has been created but it is in draft form. It will be explored and expanded and they are taking the next steps to find out the fiscal pieces of staff development. A draft copy is on file.
A Spanish speaking psychiatric social worker has been hired and is in the Department of Community Mental Health. So far this is working out well.
Nancy Travers stated that the pediatric clinic hours at 112 East Post Road for Family Foster Care are 4 days a week in the morning, 1 day a week in the afternoon, evening hours every other Tuesday, and Saturday hours in the Scarsdale office for sick baby appointments. There is a pediatrician on call 24 hours a day for emergency questions. They have 25-30 appointments a week.
A discussion ensued regarding the Foster Care system. There are approximately 85 foster parents in the County.
Chairwoman Myers asked if the photo exhibit of foster children at the Arts Council yielded any adoptions. Nancy Travers said yes it did, but she will have to find out how many.
Legislator Rogowsky asked if the Department is reviewed by the State in any way. Nancy explained that they do a map each year to show where each County stands in comparison to others. Every other year they conduct an audit to show performance of CPS and Foster Care. She continued to explain that Westchester Child Welfare is always invited to do presentations, be on boards, and participate in pilots because we are thought of highly across the State.
Commissioner Mahon stated that the WRAP program is up and running well to prevent re-adoption. To date the Department has not had any disrupted adoptions under this program.
Commissioner Mahon explained to the Committee that the Career Achieve program is on hold because the Federal Government said we cannot use their funding to buy hardware needed for the program, we can only use it to run the program. There is a new proposal sitting with the State for additional funding, we are expecting to hear a yes or no shortly. There is no county money involved in this program. The computers will go to Yonkers.
Moved by Legislator Rogowsky and seconded by Legislator Myers the minutes of January 17th, 2007 were passed with a vote of 3-0.
Moved by Legislator Burton and seconded by Legislator Jenkins the minutes of March 6, 2007 were passed with a vote of 3-0.
Moved by Legislator Rogowsky and seconded by Legislator Burton agenda items 28, 29, 33, and 44 were received and filed with a vote of 5-0.
Moved by Legislator Rogowsky and seconded by Legislator Burton the Committee on Families, Health and Human Services adjourned at 1:50 p.m.
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