TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Janet Nottley, Director
REPORT BY: Karina Castañeda, Staff Services Manager
SUBJECT: Ratification of Agreements with the California Department of Child Support Services and two other Local Child Support Agencies
RECOMMENDATION
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Director of Child Support Services requests the Board’s retroactive approval of and authorization for the Chair to sign the following two Agreements with the California Department of Child Support Services and each of the two following Local Child Support Agencies:
1. Agreement with the Alameda County Department of Child Support Services (Alameda LCS), for a maximum of $200,000 for the term of September 28, 2021 through June 30, 2022, to provide the services of two (2) Napa County Child Support Specialists; and
2. Agreement with North Coast Regional Department of Child Support Services for a maximum of $40,000 for the term of November 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022, to provide the services of one (1) Napa County Child Support Specialist.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Director of Napa County Child Support Services (CSS) requests approval of and authorization for the Chair to sign two Agreements between CSS and the California Department of Child Support Services (DCSS), and two other Local Child Support Agencies (LCSAs).
This action requests Board approval for CSS to contract with DCSS and the two other Local Child Support Agencies, separately, the Alameda County and the North Coast Regional Department of Child Support Services, to loan CSS Child Support staff to serve as subject matter experts and assist in managing caseloads during Fiscal Year 2021-22 in exchange for reimbursement for CSS’ salary and benefit costs from DCSS through an increased State allocation.
FISCAL & STRATEGIC PLAN IMPACT
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Is there a Fiscal Impact? |
Yes |
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Is it currently budgeted? |
Yes |
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Where is it budgeted? |
Child Support Services |
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Is it Mandatory or Discretionary? |
Discretionary |
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Discretionary Justification: |
This is a discretionary activity in that there is no mandate to enter into a shared services agreement with other Local Child Support Agencies. However, employees loaned under the shared services agreement will provide significant cost savings due to the State reimbursement for salary and benefit costs. The additional revenue is necessary to offset an allocation funding shortfall. |
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Is the general fund affected? |
No |
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Future fiscal impact: |
The agreements are set to expire 6/30/2022. The estimated salary and benefit reimbursement for Fiscal Year 2021-2022 is $240,000. |
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Consequences if not approved: |
Napa County Child Support Services would not be able to take advantage of this opportunity to receive additional revenue to help offset the significant decline in base allocation funding. |
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County Strategic Plan pillar addressed: |
Effective and Open Government |
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Additional Information |
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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed action is not a project as defined by 14 California Code of Regulations 15378 (State CEQA Guidelines) and therefore CEQA is not applicable.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Napa County Department of Child Support Services (CSS) has been experiencing a budget shortage due to a reduction in administration funding caused by a change in the funding methodology which is now based on the caseload size of the LCSA.
The budget shortage has caused CSS to face possible layoffs of trained staff in a time when there is also the imminent loss of senior staff due to impending retirements. In addition, CSS has been experiencing a caseload reduction over the past years due to the decrease of referrals from Health and Human Services and a decline in children born out of wedlock who would otherwise require CSS services.
The new funding methodology has placed CSS in a precarious position in that while the caseload has significantly decreased, the CSS workforce has remained the same. However, with the anticipated loss of approximately 25 percent of its current workforce, who have planned retirement dates within the next three years, the layoff of less senior staff would negatively affect the current level of service to the community, and result in a decrease in program performance.
To bridge the gap between the funding shortage and impending attrition of staff due to retirements, over the past year, CSS has been able to secure additional funding by loaning out staff to the Napa County Emergency Operations Center, resulting in some reimbursements for salary and benefits. Unfortunately, it is expected that a budget shortage will continue for the remainder of the fiscal year, which must be addressed until staff attrition takes place beginning in Fiscal year 2022-2023. Hence, the Director of Child Support Services is requesting the Board’s retroactive approval and authorization to enter into separate Agreements with DCSS and each of the aforementioned LCSAs.
The benefits of this "employee loan" program are several. For the other two LCSAs, they get experienced CSS staff who know the Child Support Program and the automated child support system to do work for other LCSA who are experiencing difficulty with recruiting the staff and are also facing similar future budget uncertainties.
While the other LCSAs have an abundant budget for staff this fiscal year, the unavailability to hire and train staff is having a negative impact on their performance and they face budget penalties in the coming years if they fail program compliance requirements. The loaned Napa employees would have a positive impact as they can immediately perform the duties necessary for the other LCSA.
For CSS, this will secure additional funding in that DCSS will reimburse CSS for the salary and benefit cost of staff loaned to complete the other LCSAs work by increasing our allocation. The increased allocation will be commensurate to the cost of the loaned staff.
The loaned employees would continue to retain their incumbency in the permanent position current filled with the Napa Child Support Department, as well as all other benefits of County employment. During each of the Agreement period, the employees will continue to receive all credits that would accrue absent this agreement for the purposes of determining seniority, promotional status, retirement date and other employment benefits.
Retroactive approval is needed because it has taken the LCSAs more time than they anticipated to provide the agreements to their respective Board of Supervisors. The agreements commenced September 28, 2021 and November 1, 2021; therefore, the Department requests retroactive approval as well as ratification of actions previously taken to implement the agreements.