Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Teresa Fetsch, Director of the Eddy, Foster and Wells Social Service Boards updated the Tri-County Social Service board at their Nov. 19 meeting. Fetsch began the update by discussing pilot projects that have begun throughout the state as part of the Social Services Redesign, a result of the legislative passage of North Dakota Senate Bill 2206.
The North Dakota Legislature passed SB 2206, which relates to the transition of funding responsibility for county social services from the counties to the state. It would provide reimbursement to the state’s 53 counties for social services based on factors including total caseload, the county’s size and inflation and it would allow a two-year time frame for the transition from the county to the state.
Fetsch began her updates to the Tri-County board by informing them that Eddy, Foster and Wells counties were chosen to be included in the Childcare Licensing pilot project, as part of the Social Services Redesign, along with Burleigh, Morton, Stutsman, Grand Forks, LaMoure and Dickey counties. These pilot counties will be asked to eliminate their existing licensing process and follow the new process that will be designed. The counties will pilot the new work, test it, and provide feedback before the changes are rolled out throughout the state. Fetsch said that Dawn Lende, the licensor for the three counties, has already been attending weekly meetings in Jamestown and through the Interactive Video Network (IVN). Their goal is to build the best child care licensing process for North Dakota families, providers and licensors. Other pilot projects have also begun throughout the state as part of the redesign.
Chris Jones, Executive Director of North Dakota Health and Human Services (HHS), spoke about the redesign in a Sept. 19 article in the “Williston Herald,” explaining that the redesign work follows on the heels of the legislature saying it would take over funding of social services from counties for two years, while it studies a state takeover in a three-year pilot. In the article, Jones acknowledged that retaining local control and access were key selling points to the measure, and that was how it was represented to the legislature. “But it’s not how we were looking at it,” Jones said. “It’s more about, how do we redesign services so that we ensure we are spending as much money as possible on direct client services instead of on administration.”
He said the concept was to create 19 zones which would replace 46 county directors. The zones would not be “hard boundaries” in terms of delivering services, however. “They are meant to be for budgeting, and for staying connected to local service needs,” Jones said. “The goal is to create more flexibility in the funding formula to meet the needs of the poor and vulnerable across the state, effectively and efficiently.”
Fetsch said Jones updated directors at the recent director meetings she attended in October and November, where he made it clear that changes would be made. She relayed that, while there is no planned reduction in staff, they also would not hire if transfers could be made. At the director meetings, Fetsch learned that, rather than there being a minimum of 19 zones, there will now be a minimum of 16. Those new zones should be defined by Nov. 1, 2019 and the zone directors will be hired by Jan. 1, 2020. The counties are being encouraged to start forming districts using the NDCC 50-01.1 (Multi-County Districts) as a guideline. updated the board on the The Eddy, Foster, Wells Social Service boards and the Tri-County board has moved forward with the plan of becoming a multi-county district, and Fetsch said that Jonathan Alm, DHS attorney, recommended on Oct. 30 that the plan be sent to Jones for his approval. The final draft was sent to Jones on Nov. 9 after obtaining signatures from the board chairs for Tri-County and from the Eddy, Foster and Wells Social Service Boards.
Jones informed Fetsch that he would be reviewing the plan. When the plan is approved, Fetsch will be scheduling an all-staff meeting to discuss the transition. She will also notify commissioners when the plan is approved, as the goal has been for the multi-county district to begin on Jan. 1, and they will need to appoint members to the District Board during their December meetings.
