Commissioners present: Richard DeVaughn, chairman, Ron Mercer, vice-chairman, Jay Dee Chase, Mike Peck, Bob Rawlings, Gerri Webb, Aneta Wilkinson and the Rev. George Young.
Present for the Department: Director Howard H. Hendrick; Margaret Hall, commission secretary
1. CALL TO ORDER—Chairman DeVaughn
Chairman DeVaughn called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES—OCT. 27, 2009
Commissioners voted to approve the minutes from the Oct. 27, 2009 meeting.
3. DIRECTOR’S COMMENTS—Howard Hendrick
The Director made a presentation on site visits and other good news. Last month, he visited Urban Institute TANF Summit, multiple budget planning sessions, the Oklahoma Senate performance review, the SNAP Task Force review of performance and project progress, the Oklahoma Foster Care Association meeting, the Native American Heritage Celebration and the annual adoption awards ceremony and celebration, just to name a few.
Director Hendrick shared some good news. This year OKDHS employees had another record year for the State Charitable Campaign. In 2007, the giving level was $84,264. In 2009, it is estimated to be $104,228. The Director commended OKDHS employees for their generosity, especially during these challenging economic times. Several hundred families also received Thanksgiving dinners through the OKDHS Office of Volunteerism and many OKDHS employees contributed to the food drive.
The Director also provided an update on SNAP participation. October was another record month and participation in the program rose by more than 11,000 individuals. This represents a 26 percent over the same period one year ago. More than 15 percent of the state’s population in one month received the SNAP benefit. More than 28 percent of all the state’s children received food benefits in one month. The Director noted that the agency used to see 640,000 different people over the course of a month. Now, 751,327 different people are seen over the course of a month. About 20 percent of all Oklahomans had a SNAP case for at least one month within the last 12 months. These figures don’t count those who came in applied and weren’t eligible. The benefit is $4.40 per person per day.
The Director also discussed the budget. He said agency leadership will continue to search for areas that potentially could be cut without the loss of significant federal matching funding. Analysis of these areas will continue so that in the event state revenues continue to decline, the agency will be prepared to make additional cuts. However, he said it is becoming more difficult to find areas that could be cut without the loss of significant federal matching funds.
4. CONSIDERATION OF FINANCIAL REPORT FOR OCTOBER—Phil Motley
Motley said state revenue in September, for allocation in October, was reduced by 5 percent or $1.75 million. The state collections for October, for allocation in November, were reduced by 5 percent. The Office of State Finance instructed agencies to reduce their budgets by 5 percent for the remainder of fiscal year. Motley said OKDHS was proactive when the Commission approved the $11.8 million reduction to operations. A small adjustment is still required to meet that 5 percent—and the agency is working on achieving that measure.
• Foster care placements: 173
• SNAP caseloads: rose by 5,238
• TANF cases (child only): rose by 37
• TANF cases (adult only): rose by 190
The financial report was approved.
5. REPORT FROM FINANCE DIVISION—(Electronic Payment Systems) Phil Motley, Lisa Henley
Motley told the Commission about the success of the Electronic Benefits Transfer system that allows OKDHS clients receiving benefits through SNAP and Child Care to easily and more securely receive and use their benefits. The Electronic Payment Card allows Child Support clients, State Supplemental recipients, TANF recipients and Adoption Assistance clients to receive and use either their child support payments or their benefits. A new card was added to allow clients to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables at participating Farmer’s Markets.
The cards eliminate the risk for lost or stolen checks, allow clients to receive payments quicker and add up to cost savings within the program’s administrative costs.
Motley introduced Henley, who told the Commission that her unit works with banks, retailers, grocery stores, child care providers and OKDHS clients. The unit issues the cards (about 3 million per year) and manages the needs of 1,200 retailers. They have call centers to provide customer service for clients, retailers and child care providers. The call centers handle about 1.5 million calls per month. Some calls are relatively short (adding/changing PIN, etc.) and the average time on hold is 11 seconds. The call center takes much of the burden off the local Human Services Center to answer these routine inquiries. Within the Web sites for each card, user may also check balances and check transactions. The unit must also adhere to all federal and state requirements, OKDHS policy and Division policy.
OKDHS is leading the way on innovation, Henley said. OKDHS representatives have testified before the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee about the child care time and attendance system and more states are adopting this system, based on the success OKDHS has experienced with it. Other states are also consulting Oklahoma about how to duplicate Oklahoma’s Farmer’s Market and Senior Farmer’s Market systems. Locally, they are also assisting the state Department of Health to develop the EBT system for the Women, Infants and Children’s nutrition program. They are in the process of developing several more innovations for future use.
6. REPORT ON HUMAN SERVICES CENTERS—Marq Youngblood (Adoption Video: Larry Johnson)
Youngblood gave his report on the Human Services Centers.
The Child Welfare referrals report indicated:
• Total referrals pending greater than 60 days declined by 23
• Total referrals pending less than 60 days declined by 249
• Priority one no contacts rose by one; the children were seen but the information was not entered into system prior to the report being generated
• Priority two no contacts rose by 28
• In the past, double fills and overfills of personnel were used to reduce backlog. Since that backlog has declined, the budgeted allocated number of FTE will be reduced through attrition. That budget allocation savings will help alleviate some of the budget pressure on the agency.
The APS report stated:
• Total past due investigations was 43, up five from last month. The majority of those are in one area and a plan is in place to reduce this number.
• Percent of investigations initiated timely was down slightly, due to the situation in area six.
• Percent of investigations completed timely was also down slightly, due to the situation in area six.
• However, areas four, two and three showed significant improvements during this time.
Youngblood introduced Johnson, who told the Commission about a new project to create videos to promote the adoption of children. Johnson introduced Caroline Miller, OKDHS photographer, who briefly described the process used to produce the videos in house. Miller and Kyle Chaufty, OKDHS photographer, will eventually place the videos on the Adopt US Kids Web site at http://www.adoptuskids.org/ (Link opens in new window). One of the videos was shown to the Commission.
7. REPORT FROM FAMILY SUPPORT SERVICES DIVISION—(Subsidized Employment Program) Mary Stalnaker, Linda Hughes, Paulette Bushers
Stalnaker gave a brief description of the new Subsidized Employment Program and introduced Hughes and Bushers. The Subsidized Employment Program is a four-month wage subsidy intended to assist Oklahoma employers seeking to grow their business and to assist Oklahomans in moving back into the workforce. With employment, the amount of taxpayer dollars spent on food, medical, child care and unemployment benefits is reduced.
Hughes said federal stimulus funds make the program possible and help support families during the current economic crisis. Within the first month, the employer is reimbursed 100 percent of the employee’s wages. Within months two, three and four, the employer is reimbursed 50 percent of the employee’s wages. An employer is also eligible for a bonus if they retain the employee for six months beyond the subsidy period.
Bushers said employers agree to hire the SEP employee full-time and to pay the SEP employee a minimum of $10/hour. A representative from Express Personnel Services spoke about the success his company has experienced so far with the program. Bushers said about 78 people are now participating and are receiving between $10/hour and $16/hour.
8. DATE OF NEXT MEETING—JAN. 26, 2010
Commissioners set the date of the next meeting for Jan. 26, 2010
9. CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSED EXECUTIVE SESSION AS RECOMMENDED BY GENERAL COUNSEL AND AUTHORIZED BY OPEN MEETING ACT, 25 O.S. 1991, SECTION 307, (1), (4) AND (7)
A. STATUS REPORT ON PENDING LEGAL CLAIMS OR ACTIONS INCLUDING FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS, DISALLOWANCE AND PROVIDER CASES—Charles Waters
B. STATUS REPORT ON INVESTIGATIONS RELATED TO CLIENT MISTREATMENT AND EMPLOYEE MISCONDUCT—Mark Jones
C. REVIEW OF PROPOSED SETTLEMENT OF BLEVINS CASE—Charles Waters
Commissioners voted to go into executive session.
10. RETURN TO REGULAR SESSION
Commissioners voted to return to regular session.
11. CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSED SETTLEMENT OF BLEVINS CASE—Charles Waters
Commissioners voted to settle the case under the terms and conditions discussed during the executive session.
12. ADJOURNMENT
Commissioners voted to adjourn at 12:15 p.m.