Social Services pitches ideas to assist children in need

Since the recent closing of the Sheaffer House, Orange County youths in need of emergency shelter have had to seek help outside of the county.

But, at the Board of County Commissioners meeting Tuesday night, the Department of Social Services explained how they hope to provide the help children need closer to home.

"We all agreed we want Orange County children to stay in Orange County," said Nancy Coston, director of social services. "Obviously when you have children who need things, you can't just say we don't have a program."

Sheaffer House, located on Ephesus Church Road, provided emergency shelter to children and teenagers for the past 20 years. The house stopped serving children on June 10 due to mold problems, and notified social services at the end of July that the house would close for good because of the cost to get rid of the mold.

The house had six beds and each child could stay for up to 90 days.

Before the shelter closed, social services discussed how the adult bonds needed to help children become more self-sufficient were not happening with group care.

"I can well imagine why the group home didn't do what you wanted," said commissioner Alice Gordon.

Social services officials looked to Durham county to see how its program with individual families works.

"The homes are like foster homes. They have to agree to take kids with behavioral problems," Coston said. "There was a general consensus that that's what this community needed to have."

By partnering with the Caring Family Network, Durham County has families throughout the county that agree to be available at any time to take in children. The families have additional training and must meet state requirements for therapeutic foster care.

Orange County has a verbal proposal from the network and they hope to have a written one by the end of the week, Coston said.

The network could provide limited availability in Durham and Chatham counties in two months and resources in Orange County in five, she added.

The commissioners also heard about Medicaid spending trends, which increased throughout July and August - months that are typically slower.

"It's probably about 25 percent over what we'd been spending at the time last year," said Gwen Price, the department's economic director.

During the past two years, the largest increase in costs has been in families with children, she said.

Families with children also are receiving help in the Orange County School System, thanks to a partnership between the school system and social services.

The department has four 12-month social workers who work with families in different area schools, said social services program manager Yvette Smith. Each worker has two schools.

"We are able to help families with their preparedness and readiness for school in August," she said, adding that the workers provide services after hours and on the weekends.

Several principals have asked for a social worker to exclusively service their school.

Smith read parts of a letter from one principal describing children from families living in cars and other children with mothers just out of jail, at the board meeting. The largest caseload for a social worker is 26 families with 40 children. The lowest is 13 families with 18 children.

"You convinced me," Board Chairman Moses Carey said.

 

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