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 ffif K' v ^ ' L E > | __ Cw. < 8 STA 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. xy lbz 3C 'Treated 'Cedar j^r :';Sj H 179 Oc#0' r^*^L *?* ' ? ? > * ? SBBWfiifcsc-rrrj^^^ -? :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 tice O* 4x8 sheets W $1895 y r SUPPLiig f i l?l? A So?? ' 6#c:'- 3 V. ~ y SL ^HB Jl^^4Kv^HMLvJB^^MaiMfl * 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 :| Store wide >K FlOO Huge selection of Ion y No reasor A Saturday WDZD L Prizes given c 1 CONCEPT ART G U will be present selling S GIBSON'S Ctj *3 Coasfol Plaza, Shallotte 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? IK oaiu. ? ?iv innini...Wv...."f,.. wv 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 vJttirP unvnrnmi.nl ,