To: Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): Human Services Department
Staff Name and Phone Number: Kiergan Pegg, 565-5858
Vote Requirement: 4/5th
Supervisorial District(s): All
Title:
Title
Staff Development Trainer for Human Services Department - Economic Assistance Division
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
A) Adopt a position resolution to approve the addition of 1.0 FTE Program Planning & Evaluation Analyst supporting the position of Staff Development Trainer within the Human Resources Section of the Human Services Department effective October 8, 2019. (Majority)
B) Adopt a budget resolution authorizing budgetary adjustments to the Human Services Department’s FY 2019-20 budget in the amount of $123,766 to reflect increased appropriation arising from the addition of 1.0 FTE Program Planning & Evaluation Analyst effective October 8, 2019. (4/5th Vote Required)
end
Executive Summary:
The Human Services Department (HSD) requests the addition of a Staff Development Training Coordinator (Civil Service Title: Program Planning & Evaluation Analyst) to HSD’s Administrative Services Division. The position would reside in the Human Resources Section’s Staff Development Unit, and would be assigned to provide training support to the department’s Economic Assistance Division.
Discussion:
Upon elimination of this position in a previous budget, the Department has struggled to meet the needs for induction training for new eligibility staff in its Economic Assistance (EA) Division, and to provide continuous staff training to cover changing eligibility rules and regulations for federally-mandated benefit programs. Strategies to provide adequate training have included conducting fewer recruitments for less frequent induction classes, which has resulted in over-sized classes to fill all the vacancies from the less frequent recruitments. Additionally, staff must be pulled from other important work to assist trainers in managing such large groups of new staff. The additional Program Planning & Evaluation Analyst (PPEA) position will allow for more regular recruiting by providing the capacity to train new staff as needed. In order to keep up with the historically high turnover rate in the EA Division and to maintain enough staff to effectively serve the community, continuous hiring and continuous training is a must. Furthermore, constant program and regulation changes require frequent continuing training to update staff on new requirements to do their jobs.
The PPEA position will also help support planning, preparation and implementation of the new California Statewide Automated Welfare System (CalSAWS), which will be a large-scale transition requiring a significant amount of staffing resources. CalSAWS will replace the current system, affecting several HSD Divisions and making changes to the automation of CalWORKs, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medi-Cal, Foster Care, Refugee Services, and County Medical Services Program (CMSP).
Prior Board Actions:
During FY 2019-20 budget hearings, the PPEA Trainer position was proposed with a 3.3% of payroll cost contribution--equating to about $5,479--from county General Fund. Unfortunately, the proposal didn’t rank high enough county-wide to warrant appropriation at the time. Funding for this position has now been restructured to not require any County General Fund. The PPEA Trainer will deal strictly with fellow employees in the management of their training; no interface with the general public allows HSD to eliminate the application of any county General Fund to support the labor cost of this position. Moreover, increased state funding-specifically from Medi-Cal-will fund the position in its entirety.
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY 19-20 Adopted |
FY20-21 Projected |
FY 21-22 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
|
|
|
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
$123,766 |
$169,972 |
$175,071 |
|
Total Expenditures |
$123,766 |
$169,972 |
$175,071 |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
|
|
General Fund/WA GF |
|
|
|
|
State/Federal |
$123,766 |
$169,972 |
$175,071 |
|
Fees/Other |
|
|
|
|
Use of Fund Balance |
|
|
|
|
Contingencies |
|
|
|
|
Total Sources |
$123,766 |
$169,972 |
$175,071 |
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
No County General Funds will be used. Increased State funding from Medi-Cal will cover the additional labor cost of this position. On August 30, 2019, Sonoma County received its FY 19-20 Medi-Cal allocation letter from the State indicating that HSD will receive $25,399,496 this fiscal year, which is nearly $2 million higher than HSD’s assumed revenue of $23,265,198 in its adopted budget. HSD can draw down the needed funding from this augmented amount. Since, this proposed position will begin after the 1st quarter of FY 2019-20 (after Board approval), HSD is requesting expense appropriation for only 3-quarters of the current fiscal year. The 1st column in this Fiscal Summary table represents 75% of the annual labor cost of the PPEA trainer, which is the pro-ration for 3-quarters of the annualized total. Subsequent fiscal years assume a 3% COLA adjustment year-over-year. Funding for the PPEA position is projected on Medi-Cal base calculations: i.e., each subsequent year assumes the prior year State allocation as the base level of funding prior to any growth increases. Funding is obtained through expense claiming by quarter.
|
Staffing Impacts: |
|
|
|
|
Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
|
Program Planning & Evaluation Analyst |
$5,814.37 - $7,068.38 |
1.0 |
0.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
The position will supplement the existing 1.0 FTE Program Planning & Evaluation Analyst assigned to support the Economic Assistance Division and will have no negative impact on other allocated positions within the Human Services Department.
Attachments:
- Position Resolution
- Budget Resolution
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None