“We have identified some reimbursement that was delayed, that should have been billed and received in 2014,” Kearns told commissioners. “If that would have occurred, as it should have in 2014, our deficit would have been at the $2 million we originally projected.”
Those reimbursements are now being processed, he said.
BCCS also must cull more in-county foster homes, which is better for children and more cost effective, Kearns said.
While the department receives plenty of inquiries from families offering to be foster parents, he said they have not done an adequate job of following through with those people. He said they plan to right that with the launch of a foster family recruitment drive.
Another agency shortfall has apparently been a disconnect between the people minding the money and those spending it, according to Children Services Director Bill Morrison.
“Certainly you need to have the capacity as a manager to understand the budget in real time, as to what really exists today, what real amounts of money are available to be invested in what particular ways,” he said. “We need to get past finding out months later that we did something that had consequences.”
Commissioner Don Dixon suggested Thursday the commissioner’s Office of Budget and Management oversee the agency’s finances.
“That’s not taking it away from the department,” he said, “but it’s actually just giving you some help and giving us a little quicker insight.”
Such a move would provide more direct knowledge to commissioners of the revenue streams and spending at the agency, he said.
“So we don’t come up with an issue at the end of the year where you come in and say it was two (million dollars) and now it’s four (million dollars) and you give us all a heart attack,” Dixon said.
The commissioners tasked County Administrator Charlie Young with investigating the impact of such a move on both their finance office and the agency.
It has been a tumultuous year for Children Services — with a major reorganization announced in January, a 29 percent employee turnover rate, and a three-week strike over wages.
One of the main goals of the overhaul the agency announced a year ago is to safely reunite families faster. Commissioner Cindy Carpenter lauded the agency’s efforts to keep families together and said she understands a sea change takes time.
“We cannot change the children that are in the middle of the system, they are already high cost, they’re going to have to move through the system,” she said. “As new children come in we will be able to apply our new strategies, so I understand we’re not going to see those cost savings immediately.”
There are currently 418 children in BCCS custody, according to Kearns, which is down from 468 in May. However, he said more children are staying in the system longer, with 37 percent having been in the county’s care for two years or longer.
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