To: Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): Human Services
Staff Name and Phone Number: Nick Honey, 565-4343
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Approval for the Human Services Department to Convert Three Time-Limited Positions to Permanent Positions
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Adopt a position resolution converting 1.0 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Time-Limited Senior Office Assistant, 1.0 FTE Time-Limited Program Planning & Evaluation Analyst, and 1.0 FTE Time-Limited Public Assistance Systems Technician to permanent positions effective March 1, 2022.
end
Executive Summary:
The Human Services Department, Family, Youth and Children’s Services Division is requesting transition of three time-limited positions, which currently expire June 30, 2022, to permanent positions:
• 1.0 FTE Time-Limited Senior Office Assistant - this position has been time-limited for two years, and during that time funding has continued to increase for the Alternative Payment Child Care Program, which funds the position. With the increased funding has come an increase in the demand for childcare services to support child welfare families, and thus a permanent need for the position exists.
• 1.0 FTE Time-Limited Program Planning & Evaluation Analyst - this position has been time-limited for two years and is funded by multiple state allocations and grants, which have now transitioned into ongoing funding sources. The need for the position is ongoing in order to bring stability to program operations, allow key requirements to be completed, and to secure new funding for additional service provision.
• 1.0 FTE Time-Limited Public Assistance Systems Technician - this position has been time-limited for two years and has been funded through the Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System allocation. This funding source is now available permanently through an annual application process. The position fills an ongoing need to provide technical support to staff and management for complicated case management systems and processes.
Discussion:
The Division of Family, Youth and Children’s Services (FYC) has three positions that were initially created based on time-limited projects and/or funding limitations. Over the past two years funding for the positions has stabilized, allowing FYC to request a transition of the positions from time-limited to permanent positions. The State of California is continuing to provide funding that will be used for these positions as detailed for each position below.
1.0 FTE Senior Office Assistant (SOA) for the Alternative Payment Child Care Program
The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) provides funding via a contract with each county to administer the Alternative Payment Child Care Program (APCC), which provides childcare subsidies to child welfare families and foster parents. In January 2020, the Human Services Department (HSD) received approval for a time-limited SOA position to meet the business needs of administering the APCC program. The State has increased funding for the program over the last several years, resulting in an increase in demand for services and a need to support the increased administrative tasks associated with the program. With the increase in funding, and given the current trends in expanding capacity for childcare subsidies at a state and federal level, HSD anticipates continued increases in program usage and the need for a permanent position to support program requirements.
The SOA is responsible for a significant level of intensive administrative work for each participating family, and for responding to questions and inquiries about specific childcare needs, processing childcare applications, creating individualized enrollment packets for caretakers, and reviewing and processing attendance sheets for a caseload of 80+ families at any given time. Having a permanent SOA will ensure stability and consistency in administering the childcare subsidy program and will maintain compliance with the extensive administrative and program requirements.
Funding for the APCC program has been in place for more than ten years, and in the last five years the State has proactively increased funding by more than 300% to meet the growing need for childcare supports for families and caretakers involved in the child welfare system. The funding, which is now $935,000 annually, is anticipated to be in place permanently and will likely continue to increase. The SOA position is paid for with APCC funding up to the allowable 15% cap, which is estimated at 80% of the $130,600 position cost. Realignment funding will be used to pay for up to 20% of the remaining position expense.
Without this SOA position, significant childcare funding will remain unspent because FYC would not have the capacity to enroll all eligible, at-risk families into the program. Additionally, the strains on staff time could potentially lead to issues with compliance or result in audit findings and the eventual repayment of state funds.
1.0 FTE Program Planning and Evaluation Analyst (PPEA) for Redwood Children’s Center
The FYC Division has developed and expanded new programs over the last five years, all designed to better meet the needs of families who are at risk of or involved in child welfare services due to serious concerns about child abuse or neglect. The program enhancements are (1) Bringing Families Home (BFH), which provides supportive housing for families and foster youth with active child welfare cases; (2) support to the Redwood Children’s Center’s nationally accredited Child Advocacy Center (CAC); and (3) support for the Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC) program.
The BFH program has been recognized as a model program at the state level and has resulted in 250 Sonoma County families with child welfare cases being successfully housed since the program’s inception. The need for housing services continues to grow, and CDSS has increased funding to the BFH program and has converted the program from a pilot project to a permanent program. Funding cycles occur every three years, and given Sonoma County’s highly successful implementation, HSD is in top standing with the State and has been prioritized for the renewal of continued funding.
The Redwood Children’s Center is a nationally accredited CAC and provides a robust array of services using evidence-based practices to serve children traumatized by violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation, and human trafficking. The PPEA position has been critical for supporting administrative duties associated with the CAC and the CSEC program. The PPEA is responsible for coordinating all the Multi-Disciplinary Team Meetings for children with serious injuries from abuse or neglect, and for children who have been commercially sexually exploited. The position is critical to maintain funding and to meet state and federal requirements for oversight and national accreditation.
The time-limited PPEA position was created in 2020 and has taken the lead in managing efforts to promote community engagement, developing and implementing quality services, and ensuring that state and federal requirements are met for all three programs. These programs require writing grant proposals and submitting grant-required reports; overseeing associated service contracts and budgets; monitoring and modifying grant budgets; funding, gathering, tracking and presenting data to community partners, state officials and national accreditation bodies; and reviewing and revising policies, procedures, and agreements.
PPEA position costs are approximately $198,800 annually and are funded entirely through state allocations and grant funding. The BFH and CSEC funding is provided through allocations from CDSS, and funding for the CAC is provided through grants from the California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES). CalOES and CSEC funding has been in place since Fiscal Year 2014-2015 and BFH funding has been in place since 2017.
Because the position has been time-limited it has been more difficult to fill, and a permanent position will bring stability to program operations, allow key requirements to be completed, and will secure new funding for additional services.
1.0 FTE Public Assistance Systems Technician (PAST) for State data system support
Child Welfare Digital Services (CWDS) and CDSS are overseeing a total reconfiguration of the existing statewide Child Welfare Services/Case Management System (CWS/CMS) over a seven-year period (with five years remaining in the project), resulting in an entirely new system named Child Welfare Services - California Automated Response and Engagement System (CWS-CARES). Three modules have been delivered thus far and CWDS has directed counties to have resources available to manage and oversee the local implementation and data migration activities for the next several years. The State expects that counties will continue to have staff dedicated to the ongoing maintenance and operations of the new case management system.
The PAST is responsible for technical support and implementation related to CWS/CMS, which is FYC’s most complex and mission critical system. The system is used by 225 staff for all recordkeeping related to nearly 10,000 child welfare hotline calls and reports annually, as well as over 700 child welfare cases and 900 adoptions cases. System administration and agency staff support for the complex case management systems requires substantial, specialized expertise and personnel resources. Currently, FYC has only one permanent IT staff with in-depth systems knowledge and experience, and the one time-limited PAST. In addition to the ongoing management of the existing CWS/CMS, the two staff are working on the State-required conversion process to the new CWS-CARES. Both positions are developing the needed internal expertise for each of the seven new CWS-CARES modules in order to complete the necessary workflow analysis, data cleanup, testing/installation of new releases, updates to job-aids and user guides, training of staff and reporting.
The two positions also manage all software, hardware and training needs for FYC using 30 different databases and software programs. Without the PAST position, all responsibilities would fall to the existing IT position which will impair our ability to effectively implement the new system, and would likely result in serious data quality issues that the State has communicated will lead to funding reductions. The time-limited PAST position is funded through the Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System (CCWIS) allocation from CDSS and the cost for this position is approximately $165,000 for next fiscal year. In addition to CCWIS funding, HSD anticipates being able to use an increased state funding allocation related to implementing the new CWS-CARES in future years.
Strategic Plan:
N/A
Prior Board Actions:
April 28, 2020: Approval to add a 1.0 FTE Time-Limited Senior Office Assistant through January 31, 2022 to support the APCC program. Position was extended to June 30, 2022 through the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 budget process.
July 14, 2020: Approval to add a 1.0 FTE Time-Limited Program Planning and Evaluation Analyst position to support housing and services related to Redwood Children’s Center through June 30, 2022.
August 4, 2020: Approval to add a 1.0 FTE Time-Limited PAST position to support implementation related to the existing statewide CWS/CMS through June 30, 2022.
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY 21-22 Adopted |
FY 22-23 Projected |
FY 23-24 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
$164,600 |
$489,800 |
$504,400 |
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
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Total Expenditures |
$164,600 |
$489,800 |
$504,400 |
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Funding Sources |
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General Fund/WA GF |
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State/Federal |
$164,600 |
$489,800 |
$504,400 |
|
Fees/Other |
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Use of Fund Balance |
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Contingencies |
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Total Sources |
$164,600 |
$489,800 |
$504,400 |
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
Increased appropriations are not required to cover the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 (FY 21-22) cost of $164,600 to convert 3.0 FTE positions from time-limited to permanent as of 3/1/22. $164,600 has already been included in HSD’s Adopted Budget for FY 21-22 to cover the 3/1/22 through 6/30/22 period. No County General Fund is being requested.
The increased cost for a 1.0 FTE SOA in subsequent years is $130,600 and $134,500 in fiscal years 2022-23 and 2023-24, respectively. In FY 22-23, the 1.0 FTE SOA position will be 80% paid for with APCC funding ($104,480 in FY22-23) and 20% paid for with Realignment funding ($26,120 in FY 22-23). HSD has been receiving APCC funding for over 30 years. The current contract, CAPP-1064, dated 11/05/21, is for FY 21-22 in the amount of $1,176,820.
The increased cost for a 1.0 FTE PPEA in subsequent years is $198,800 and $204,700 in fiscal years 2022-23 and 2023-24, respectively. In FY 22-23, the 1.0 FTE PPEA position will be 60% paid for by the CalOES grant ($119,280 in FY 22-23); 25% paid for with BFH funding ($49,700 in FY 22-23); and 15% paid for by the CSEC program allocation ($29,820 in FY 22-23).
In FY 21-22, HSD received:
1. A CalOES grant of $206,000, Award KC20-04-0490 dated 3/18/21. This is our 4th year receiving this CalOES funding.
2. BFH funding of $1,609,275, per CFL 19/20-67 dated 03/9/20. Per ACWDL dated 7/19/21, this BFH program will be extended through 6/30/24.
3. A CSEC program allocation of $277,125, per CFL 21/22-21 dated 09/30/21.
HSD has been receiving yearly CalOES, BFH, and CSEC funding on an ongoing basis for at least the last 3 years and HSD does not anticipate any reduction in these three funding sources for future fiscal years.
The increased cost for a 1.0 FTE PAST in subsequent years is $160,400 and $165,200 in fiscal years 2022-23 and 2023-24, respectively. In FY 22-23, the 1.0 FTE PAST position will be 100% paid for with CCWIS funding. HSD received CCWIS funding totaling $224,572 for FY 21-22, per the Advance Planning Document (APD) approval letter dated 6/23/21. An APD is submitted and subsequently approved every fiscal year. HSD does not anticipate any reduction in CCWIS funding for future fiscal years.
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Staffing Impacts: |
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Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
None - positions already exist.
Attachments:
Position Resolution
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
N/A