COUNTY OF OSWEGO HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE April 27, 2011 10:00 a.m. County Office Building, Oswego, NY 4 th Floor Conference Room E PRESENT: Leg. John Proud, Chair Leg. Jacob Mulcahey, Vice Chair Leg. Barbara Brown Leg. James Karasek Leg. Margaret Kastler Leg. Ronald Sakonyi Leg. Terry Wilbur MEDIA: Carol Thompson, Valley News STAFF/GUESTS: Leg. Amy Tresidder Philip Church, County Administrator Frances Lanigan, Commissioner of Social Services Donna Kestner, Director of Veterans Services Kathleen Fenlon, Youth Bureau Director David Turner, Planning Director Laurence Schmidt, Office for the Aging Director Dr. Dennis Norfleet, Public Health Director Richard Mitchell, County Attorney Steve Loadwick, County Auditor Myron & Sue Pringle Wendy Falls, Deputy Clerk of the Legislature ===================================================================== Committee Chair Proud called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. 1. Proclamation Mental Health Month Presentation of proclamation and picture taken in Legislative Chambers. 2. Minutes of March 30, 2011: Motion to approve: Legislator Sakonyi Second: Legislator Wilbur Leg. Kastler requested changing if to is in the last sentence on page 2, second paragraph. Vote to approve the minutes as amended: Unanimous, motion carried 3. DSS: A. Resolution DSS Legal Services Contract Social Services Commissioner Frances Lanigan reported that on April 11, 2011 she received notice that one of the partners did not wish to service the contract to provide legal services and the other partner, Allison Nelson, Esq. wished to assume all responsibilities for the contract under the name Nelson Law Firm. Commissioner Lanigan stated that the Nelson Law Firm has the appropriate staff to service the contract and the Social Services Department cannot go without legal representation. This resolution is a change in assignment to Nelson Law Firm. Motion to support resolution: Legislator Kastler Second: Legislator Brown Vote: Unanimous, motion carried B. Resolution Authorizing Budgetary Modification - HEAP Motion to support resolution: Legislator Brown Second: Legislator Mulcahey Committee Chair Proud made note of the statistics on the informational memo, second paragraph, which 23,696 phone calls have been received by Social Services in regard to HEAP assistance and $6.2 million has been issued to eligible households for regular and emergency HEAP. Leg. Kastler asked if more money would be received from the federal government this year. Commissioner Lanigan responded that there is funding in the Health & Human Services Committee Minutes for April 27, 2011 1
federal budget but it is uncertain what will happen next year. She also mentioned that individuals will be able to apply online next year for HEAP benefits, which will help to cover additional hours. Leg. Brown asked if the county puts out a bid for a base price on fuel. Commissioner Lanigan said no that it comes out of the Comptroller s Office. Leg. Karasek commented that he has heard from various companies that this year was the worst year for people depending on HEAP money because it doesn t cover all the costs. Vote: Unanimous, motion carried C. Professional Services Medicaid Overburden Audit Social Services Commissioner Lanigan mentioned that in 2002/2003 the county contracted with Nancy Rose Stormer, P.C. to provide audits on Medicaid. Ms. Stormer specializes in Medicaid auditing and recouped over $150,000 last time an audit was done. Commissioner Lanigan stated that no payment is made unless there is a recovery. She is requesting the county again contract with Ms. Stormer for Medicaid Audit purposes. Motion to support resolution: Legislator Brown Second: Legislator Kastler Leg. Karasek asked if this service should go out for bid. County Attorney Mitchell responded that these services are a unique skill set and he was not aware of anyone else in the state that does this; it could be put out to RFP if the committee wanted to. Commissioner Lanigan mentioned that Ms. Stormer is doing Medicaid Auditing in other counties as well. Leg. Tresidder inquired if payment was made once recovery is received. Commissioner Lanigan said yes. County Administrator Church remarked that it is his understanding that Ms. Stormer is the sole source provider in the state. Motion made to amend resolution to send out an RFP for Medicaid Audit Services: Legislator Karasek Second: Legislator Mulcahey Leg. Brown remarked that it would be a waste of money to send out an RFP. Commissioner Lanigan stated there wouldn t be enough time to do an RFP, and would be a waste of time since Ms. Stormer is the only one out there that anyone has used. Vote on amendment: 3 in favor; 4 opposed (Legs. Proud, Brown, Kastler and Sakonyi opposed); motion failed Vote: 5 in favor; 2 opposed (Legs. Wilbur and Karasek opposed); motion carried 4. All Departments Discussion on State Budget Impact: County Administrator Church commented that he asked each department to be ready to discuss any major impacts of the state budget. Office for the Aging Director of Office for the Aging Laurence Schmidt reported that the department didn t receive any additional funding and only one program lost anything. Director Schmidt reported the following: CSE no change; EISEP no change; SNAP no change; CSI was cut by 50% for a loss of about $2,000; Transportation no change; Medicare counseling no change; New York Connects was changed so that Office for the Aging departments are now responsible, however, Oswego County is not involved in this program. Director Schmidt stated that there is minimal effect on the department. Leg. Karasek asked if there will be delivery issues with increasing fuel costs in regard to SNAP. Director Schmidt responded that OCO may run into a problem and may ask for a percentage increase for next year s budget. He said that a problem area will be in volunteer mileage reimbursement requests, because historically volunteers haven t asked for reimbursement. Leg. Karasek inquired if there was an issue with DSS employees out in the field. Commissioner Lanigan responded that she is not hearing that it s a hardship; the employees are reimbursed at the IRS rate. Health & Human Services Committee Minutes for April 27, 2011 2
Social Services Social Services Commissioner Lanigan distributed a document of estimated impacts and said that some things are still unclear in regard to the budget. She reported that the state budget will result in an increase to local share of approximately $140,000. The following programs are affected: TANF funding moved to federal TANF Block Grant for a savings of $875,000; Safety Net Assistance will cost an additional $672,000 (formula changed to 29% state and 71% local share); Child Support Enforcement reinstatement of 2% reduction for a savings of $26,796; Flexible Fund for Family Services (FFFS) estimated reduction of $60,598; Reduced funding for Summer Youth Employment under TANF; Juvenile Justice funding decrease of $162,738 may mean changes in contracts; Reduction in state share of adoption subsidies of $147,030 from 75% to 62%; Mental Hygiene was cut by 1.1% which will be approximately $42,366 (not counted in the total funding decrease of $140,000). Leg. Karasek asked if Safety Net was mandated. Commissioner Lanigan responded that it was and that the department doesn t do anything that isn t mandated. Leg. Karasek questioned the drug testing for recipients of funds. Commissioner Lanigan explained that a state screening is done, involving basic questions being asked, but actual onsite testing is not done. She said that the department can send an individual to a facility for assessment and then they may recommend treatment from there. Leg. Karasek inquired if actual testing is what Assemblyman Barclay is proposing. County Administrator Church said yes, that is his understanding. Commissioner Lanigan remarked that the drug testing doesn t happen until individuals are already enrolled in a program. Leg. Brown asked if there was any plan to increase the rate for burial services. Commissioner Lanigan responded that adjustments are only made if funeral homes come to them, and that the State still only reimburses the County for $425. Health Public Health Director Dr. Norfleet reported that state funding has been eliminated for all optional programs and the budget will have a projected decrease for 2011 of $161,000 and for 2012 of $214,600. The following programs will be impacted: EI program administration will have a loss of state aid of $34,600; EI service coordination decrease of $20,500; and Long Term Nursing decrease of $105,900. Dr. Norfleet also reported a reduction of Medicaid payments by 2%; will impact Early Intervention by $11,700, which will be offset by a 5% reduction in allowable rates charged by the EI providers for a savings of $37,500; Medicaid estimated impacts in Certified Home Health Care by $5,250 and Long Term Care of $7,725. Dr. Norfleet reported a net change of $148,175 for 2011 and $241,400 for 2012. Leg. Kastler asked if rabies clinics and mosquito testing are optional programs. Dr. Norfleet responded that rabies clinics are provided through a grant and mosquito testing is part of a core program. He stated that most of the grants in the core programs should be held at the same level. Committee Chair Proud asked if the figures represent an increase in local share costs. Dr. Norfleet said yes, and that the net figure also includes the savings from EI. County Administrator Church commented that Certified Home Health Care is no longer funded. He said that he has met with the Personnel Director and Dr. Norfleet regarding this matter. Administrator Church remarked that many counties are compiling studies about the program; some counties are deciding to keep in place and some are deciding to eliminate. He noted that he will have options for the next committee meeting. Youth Bureau Youth Bureau Director Kathleen Fenlon reported that the state proposed block grant fell apart but the 50% cut stayed in place. She noted the three (3) different funding streams in the department: funding to community not for profit agencies; funding to municipalities with the county acting as a pass through (16 municipalities and 24 programs); or funding directly to the county (Camp Hollis, Camp Zerbe, administration, etc). Director Fenlon stated that $277,503 was budgeted in Health & Human Services Committee Minutes for April 27, 2011 3
funds for 2011 and the NYS budget reduces this by 50% over the next two (2) years. Funds will be reduced by approximately 26.7% in 2011 or $74,000 and the remaining in 2012. She reported that the net loss to the county will be about $15,500 for this year. She remarked that contracts for services will be reduced by the amount of state reduction; which will result in a reduction of services depending on the program. Contracts with municipalities will also be reduced by the amount of state reduction, roughly 26%. Director Fenlon stated that some contracted services won t be able to run on 50% of the funding. Leg. Brown asked if there was an amount per child spent on child programming. Director Fenlon responded that there are 40,000 kids ages 0-21 in Oswego County; there used to be an amount of $6 per child at one point. Leg. Brown asked if money could be taken from unappropriated funds to boost youth programs. County Administrator Church responded that it was up to the legislature to do that. Leg. Brown commented that it would be money well spent; money needs to be spent on the kids. Committee Chair Proud mentioned that Oswego County is ranked really low in health behaviors, what are the longer term implications with this kind of thing if we are taking resources away from children and putting the burden on families. Leg. Mulcahey inquired how much Leg. Brown wanted to spend. Leg. Brown responded that the amount should make up the loss in the budget. Committee Chair Proud commented that this is an issue that should be discussed in caucuses. Motion made to transfer $74,000 out of Unappropriated Funds into the Youth Bureau budget: Legislator Brown Second: Legislator Sakonyi Leg. Wilbur remarked that these are only anticipated cuts right now. Director Fenlon responded that the 50% cut is definite and specific amounts will be known when the state releases allocation charts, which the state is saying should be shortly. Leg. Tresidder remarked that there are a lot of similar issues in other departments; she said if we remedy every shortfall we are headed down a slippery slope and the money will have to come from somewhere else. Leg. Karasek stated that it is being unfair to the process until every department head is heard from. He said the legislators need to cycle through the whole process then react, which will involve careful considerations. Leg. Wilbur asked where the line was going to be drawn; other departments need money as well. Leg. Brown argued that the county will save in the long run on such things as probation and health and it will impact everything else in the budget. Leg. Karasek suggested a document be developed to show each department with their shortfalls; then there can be a discussion as a legislature. County Administrator Church commented that information was being presented to the Finance and Personnel Committee and each legislator will receive a copy. Leg. Wilbur asked the Administrator what the shortfall was for all departments. Administrator Church responded that other costs are increasing that aren t specific to a department such as the radio system payback and retirement. He stated that with the estimated increase in mandated program costs plus the state budget plus the local increase will put approximately $4 million pressure on the tax levy. Administrator Church reminded the committee that the state is talking about a tax levy cap and they should be mindful of making decisions that can t be kept if the cap is passed. Director Fenlon commented that the contract portion of the budget can be controlled, but she can t control the $15,500 in county funding. She stated that the money is in the adopted budget and this affects anticipated revenue. Roll Call Vote: 3 in favor, 4 opposed (Legs. Mulcahey, Karasek, Wilbur, Kastler opposed); motion failed. Committee Chair Proud commented that regardless of the vote, legislators should discuss the issue in caucuses. Veterans Director of Veterans Services Donna Kestner reported that state funding will stay the same in her department. Health & Human Services Committee Minutes for April 27, 2011 4
5. Adjournment: Motion made to adjourn meeting: Legislator Karasek Second: Legislator Wilbur Vote: Unanimous, motion carried Meeting adjourned at 11:35 a.m. Health & Human Services Committee Minutes for April 27, 2011 5
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