Social
BY SUSAN USHER <
Bv earlv November Brunswick County commis- 1
sioriers will be asked to increase funding for several 1
social services programs.
A cKnrtfoll ln funrlc for thrnn enpi'inoc Ikn oiionni' ir
I required to provide prompted members of the
Brunswick County Board of Social Services to vote
Monday night to seek the additional funds as soon as
possible.
They also met in executive session for 45 minutes on
a legal matter, taking no action.
In regard to the funding shortage, Director Jamie
Orrock will prepare a projection of the agency's needs
for consideration at the board's October 28 meeting,
with plans to present the request to commissioners at
their Nov. 4 meeting.
Aid to Families with Dependent Children, foster
care and rest home care programs are expected to exceed
their budgets this fiscal year. AFDC is budgeted at
$162,704 and has spent $31,394; rest home care for
$95,240, with 120,062 spent; and state foster home care,
$4,796, with $1,186 spent.
Orrock attributed the problem to two things. "We
were slightly underbudgeted and then the state raised
the rate for some programs after the budget had
already been adopted."
The agency must submit its budget to the county in
I April, for tentative adoption bv commissioners by June
II, and final adoption by July 1. The General Assembly
acted on the social services measures late in its 1985
session.
Overspending had also occurred in several administrative
areas, including travel and training and
the board's own per diem. Since July 1, the board has
spent $599.80 of its $3,000 budget.
"You've got to stop meeting so much," Director
Jamie Orrock quipped.
But these expenditures can be handled by adjusting
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GKTTING A CALX, through to the Brunswick Count) Sort
mrnt should get a little easier In the near future, making
pleasant for Clerk-Rereptlonlst Pearl Brown. Four lines 1
Incoming calls only and a clerk-receptionist hired to hel|
at the front desk and switchboard.
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:es Budget S
jther line items in the administrative budget, a change
not possible in the other programs, where funds
allocated to one program cannot be spent for another.
Money that isn't used must go back to the state.
The agency's budget was created a little bit differently
this spring than in the past, since it had been
without a director for some time. County officials
prepared the budget document with the help of a
regional DSS official.
Overtime Changes
At least for now, beginning October 1 social
workers will no longer receive compensatory time off
for hours they spend on call or answering calls on nights
and weekends.
Social workers 1 and II, like the director, supervisors
and the accountant V are among the executive,
professional and administrative employees considered
"exempt" from overtime provisions of the Kair l-abor
Standards Act as interpreted in the U.S. Supreme Court
ruling in Garcia vs. San Antonio. The categorization is
based on employees' job descriptions.
In the Garcia case, the court ruled that non-exempt
workers who work more than a standard work week
mite* Ka rtawl in each nnt with "cnnuionmlnrv tiniO off"
for the extra hours logged, and that the method of compensation
must be uniform.
"Are you going to expect them to do this for
nothing'.'" asked Evelyn Johnson, services supervisor.
"What you're going to have is mass confusion and uncovered
areas.
"And I know who is going to get stuck with the
calls," she added.
At her suggestion, the board asked Orrock to check
to see if the social workers can still receive time off for
"on call" hours.
While other options may be available in that area,
Orrock said. "1 think our hands are going to be pretty
well tied regarding who is exempt and who is nonexempt."
DSS Swit
BY SUSAN USHER
If you've tried time and again
without success to reach the
Brunswick County Social Services
Department by telephone, your luck
should soon improve.
Several changes approved Monday
* * night by the Brunswick County Board
of Social Services are expected im
prove the flow of calls into and out of
what may be the busiest switchboari
at the county Kovernment center.
V "There are probably more calls ti
. this agency Hum to uny other one ou
\V s* here," special services coordinate
| David Sellers ol Atlantic Telcphon
\ ' Membership Corp. told boar
\ ' rncm(>ers Monday night.
\ I On Friday, he reported, the agei
' I cy's four local lines and two oulsid
\ \ lines handled 253 incoming and 37
*, % outgoing calLs. After a week-Ion
Py jj survey, he said Friday was aboi
\ average.
\.9 "If you try to call and can't get u:
l-Wi-t now >'
calls only, adding two addition
al Services Depart- |jnes that will be reserved for outg
; work a little more mg calLs only. Individual "foreign c
will be reserved for change" lines to serve clients in tl
p handle the traffic Iceland and in the Southport-Oi
Island areas will continue to hand
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THE BRUNSW
Ihows SerioL
Chairman Frankie Rabon said ho thought
employees who work overtime should bo compensated
in some way, with Orrock agreeing.
In the meantime, also to bring the agency in compliance
with provisions of the act. the board adopted a
standard work-week that begins at 5:01 p.m. Friday
and continues until 5 p.m. the following Friday. By in
ciuaing mo weeuenu in me w-nour worn ween me agency
should reduce the likelihood of incurring overtime
charges, Orrock noted, since employees can vary their
daily hours within that period.
Ms, Johnson said that she and a number of other
social workers were told when hired that they could get
time off for time spent on call. The agency began providing
the compensatory time off for on-call duty about
three years ago, at the request of the social work staff.
Orrock will also investigate the availability of county
vehicles for use by the social services staff, and
whether operating costs for the vehicles would cost less
than paying mileage to workers who use their own
vehicles. Ms. Johnson had asked about vehicles for the
social workers, saying their 20 cents per mile mileage
reimbursement rate did not cover the expenses incurred
in use of the vehicles.
Chore Service
Board members also approved a chore program
waiting list policy, as required by the state, which puts
adults who need the service as part of a protective service
plan at the top of the list.
Previously, said Services Supervisor Evelyn
Johnson, these adults were in the same priority group
as the aged and disabled. "It was a judgment call on the
part of the worker to decide who received the service,"
she said.
Applicants on the waiting list will be contacted
every (.K) days to see if they still want the service and to
reassess their status. At the end of one year on the list,
thev must reapply.
chboard Getting
both incoming and outgoing culls, tern of calls at
Their volume does not warrant addi- added. At momi
tional access at this time, Sellers suddenly freed
said chboard is "flo<
The agency w ill also hire as soon as
possible an additional clerkreceotionist
to share the workload at c L :IX'_
I the front desk and switchboard. The
telephone area will be isolated with a q
i plexiglass wall. KepOnS
A paging system with five speakers Brunswick
at various locutions in the agency is deputies drove
J also expected to increase the speed using 5.889 g
with which the switchboard handles quarts of oil.
culls. It provides u wuy to notify a Deputies su
*j worker aaway from the desk that he made 24 ar
' or she has a call. The office telephone witness, and i
system alreudy allows workers to They also scr
plug into their own extensions from 81 foreign war
^ any telephone In the office. und Incbriati
Sellers identified several problems doors and win
with the lines as they are now exist. The departn
' The four local lines, as well as the and made f>l 1
foreign exchange lines, liandle both spent 21 court
' incoming and outgoing calls, he said, hours off duty
' which means that heavy staff use in officer. Office
the mornings and late afternoon stolen propcrt
n sometimes blocks the flow of calLs Deputies all
coming in. the county t
| This results in a "sporadic" pat- prevention mi
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I
1CK BEACON, Thursday, September 26, 1985?Page 13-A
js Shortfall
Other Business
In other business, the board:
Agreed to seek $10,000 available from the state
Division of Social Services for a protective services
worker, with plans to use the money to create a parttime,
iciu^oitti.v poaiuuu iu rciit'Vt' suuie vn uiv
demands on that unit, in August tne unit received zi
reports of child abuse or neglect, four reports of adult
abuse or neglect and additional information on two existing
reports. Between Sept. 1 and Sept. 20, another 20
reports have been filed. The unit has a total caseload of
85.
Reviewed Orroek's responses to management
items contained in the agency's 1982-83 audit report,
and approved its forwarding to the N.C. Secretary of
Human Resources.
Agreed to hire a temporary eligibility specialist to
help process low-income energy program applications.
Met behind closed doors for approximately 45
minutes to discuss a letter from David Clegg, county attorney,
and Bill Fairley, who has represented Orrock in
a legal matter, regarding "legal representation for the
director," then took no action.
Voted not lo advance funds for Accountant Undn
Green to attend the fourth session of a four-part supervisor's
workshop sponsored by the Institute of Government.
At the time the lioard agreed to send her to the
sessions, she was supervising a number of clerical
employees, but not any more.
Also, Director Jamie Orrock said the travel funds
could be better spent elsewhere, for local mileage incurred
by the services staff, for instance. The state will
provide in-eounty workshops on perforuuince appraisal
and other management skills for all supervisory staff,
onl/1 T>tn Imurd uiiuitAulinu it urnrk?ihnn hi?
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hero since overspending is nlrciuiy ti problem in the
travel and training budget.
Hoard member louis "Bobby" Brown was the only
member to vote against the motion.
Overdue Relief
the switchboard, he four lines, which causes additional
;nts when all lines are delay in answering the telephone,
i, he said, the swlt- "1 hope we can gel a more consisxled
with calls" on all tent flow of traffic," he said.
The two foreign exchange lines are
the only additions to the agency's
phone system since I )SX moved to the
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