Title
Budget Amendment - FY21 Revenue Increase for Department of Social Services - (DSS)
Action
ACTION:
Amend the Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Annual Budget Ordinance to recognize, receive, and appropriate an increase of $177,693 from Smart Start to the General Fund (Fund 0001) within the Department of Social Services
Staff Contact: Jacqueline McKnight, PhD, Deputy Director, DSS
Aalece Pugh-Lily, Division Director, Clinical & Contractual Services
Presentation: No
BACKGROUND/JUSTIFICATION:
Since 2017, Mecklenburg County has experienced a significant in the number of referrals for suspected cases of child maltreatment. Last calendar year, there were approximately 18,0000 referrals to Child Protective Services (CPS) from which 11,000 investigations ensued. Per the North Carolina Early Childhood Action Plan, Mecklenburg County Data Report indicates that when children were taken into custody in Mecklenburg County, reunification, guardianship or custody for children took quantifiably longer in comparison to the state average. Specifically, children aged 0-3 remained in care on average of 60 days longer and children aged 4-5 were in care 156 days longer than the state average due to mitigating factors. Moreover, the child welfare literature confirms that the longer a child is in care, the less successful reunification will be, and the more likely that child will return to child welfare custody at some point in the future. The mere act of assuming custody of a child is a potentially traumatic event, possibly leading to long-term emotional and behavioral implications.
Given this data and in anticipation of the rollout of the Family First Prevention Services Act (reform designed to safely keep families together and minimize removal of children from their families), the Department will be applying for grant funding from Smart Start to support the rollout of a robust array of evidence-based services and early intervent...
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