2000-01 Ketner Award winners

The NCACC would like to announce the winners of the 2000-01 Ketner Employee Productivity Awards Program. Ralph Ketner, co-founder of Food Lion, Inc., donates $10,000 each year to reward outstanding county employees for their successful productivity initiatives.

This year marks the Association’s 10th year in organizing the program. To date, the program has attracted 874 project applications representing more than $75 million in savings to our counties.

Each year, the Association’s president appoints two review committees made up of commissioners, managers, county staff and IOG representatives — one committee considers applications from managerial staff and one reviews those submitted by line staff.

The review committees met Friday, June 22, 2001, to consider all eligible applications for the 2000-01 Ketner Productivity Awards Program. Based on the committees’ review, the following county employees were selected as having submitted the best productivity enhancements.

Each employee or team of employees will receive $1,000 and a certificate of recognition at the Second General Session of the Association’s Annual Conference in August 2001. To ensure that the local media is informed of the employee’s achievements, NCACC staff will send press releases describing the employee’s productivity initiative to local media outlets.

Virtual Health Care Office
Stokes County Health Department

Amy Hurst, Donna Petree, Angie McHone, Cathy Swing and Kim Hebert

The Stokes County Health Department staff increased caseloads and decreased missed appointments by creatively using technology to create a “Virtual Office” whereby employees developed a flexible schedule to work from home and in the community.

The Health Department found that the families they serve were increasingly difficult to reach because of women returning to the workforce. This resulted in missed appointments and decreased efficiency for a program designed to provide support and information to expectant families and families with children up to 5 years old.

So staff developed the “Virtual Office to enable employees to work from home.” Health-care workers developed a flexible schedule that allows them to meet with families outside traditional work hours and outside the health department. They stay in touch with the office via beepers and voice mail. There is always at least one staff member in the office to receive phone calls and distribute messages to home-based staff. Everyone gets together for a bi-monthly meeting so staff has an opportunity to touch base on work progress.

Since the public health field is one of the more stressful professions, the Stokes County staff found that going to a “Virtual Office” environment improved morale by giving staff more control over their work schedule and personal time. Missed visits with families have decreased on average from five per worker per month to one or two. Working from home has also freed up much-needed office and storage space. Greater efficiency has allowed workers to see, on average, an additional five cases per month.

Stokes County anticipates this program will reduce staff turnover, especially in the nursing field, thereby lowering the cost of recruitment and retention.

Stokes County spent $250 for fireproof medical records and $720 on voice mail for beepers. The department estimates it saved $47,220 by increasing the caseload and decreasing missed appointments and freeing up office space.

Contact Amy Hurst at 336-593-2400 for more information.

Cumberland County CommuniCare, Inc.
Cumberland County

James Martin, Juanita Pilgrim, Amy Cannon, Howard Abner, Grainger Barrett, Tonya Harris-Council, Marsha Fogle, Robin Jenkins, John F. Clark

Cumberland County developed CommuniCare, Inc., as a cost-effective and efficient way for bringing youth and family services in the private and non-private sectors together under a single, countywide umbrella for management and quality improvement purposes.

The corporation transitioned into the private sector July 1, 2000, when foundations and the United Way of Cumberland County came onboard with financial backing. The program has shown the community how to merge program development, collaboration, program evaluation/monitoring and financial management practices in a single, cost-effective mode. Administrative services such as human resources, auditing policy and program development are provided centrally, which allows more program dollars to be invested into direct services.

The CommuniCare umbrella serves as a central repository for grant applications to state and federal agencies. It helps coordinate services either directly under the corporation services umbrella, or through affiliated services and agencies that maintain their own nonprofit status.

By moving from public to public-private funding, county general fund dollars were leveraged to provide:

• A juvenile justice/JCPC Coordinator who manages eight programs plus all administrative activities associated with a county commissioner-appointed advisory council;
• Contract management and oversight of another federal grant coming through the county for at-risk children;
• Administrative/personnel/human resources management of three additional programs under the CommuniCare umbrella;
• Contract management and funding to existing programs impacting at-risk children in under-resourced neighborhoods.

By using the CommuniCare model, the county and grant funds provided new services and a higher level of services to children ages 6-17.

The county also maximized its access to juvenile justice funding through CommuniCare, and those dollars were used to help support coordination and strategic program development services through CommuniCare staff while also helping meet a portion of the required state match for nearly $1 million in juvenile justice funding.

The county’s contribution of $46,500 purchased more than $575,000 of additional services at no additional cost to the county. And in fiscal year 2001-02, the county’s costs will decrease 19 percent ($8,780) for the same level of service to the entire county.

Through CommuniCare, Cumberland County maintained these programs without having to assume total funding responsibility.

For more information contact the county manager’s office at 910-678-7723.

Automating CIP Grant Distributions
Bladen County

Diane Merritt and Bill Settlemyer

The Bladen County Department of Social Services found itself being overwhelmed by the number of applications for its crisis intervention programs. Clients were waiting in long lines, grant budgets were being exceeded, and proper tracking of errant amounts and recipients was difficult.

Since DSS had no way to verify the amount a household received, allowance overages were unavoidable, and grant allocations were exceeded, meaning the county was liable for these unbudgeted expenditures. End-of-day accounting was a time and labor-intensive challenge.

Designing an automated system to track grant distributions became a top priority, so DSS sought help from the Bladen County Computer Operations Center, staffed by Diane Merritt and Bill Settlemyer.

The two created a system that automatically tracks grant allowance totals for each of the following criteria — Client per visit, household per visit, household per fiscal year and amount balances. Each grant has a set amount of money, but without an automated tracking system, DSS workers could not easily determine what each had received.

The automated system displays a client’s history. Eligibility is determined at point-of-entry. The grant’s balance is automatically decreased when applications are approved. The grant total, the amount allocated and the current balance are viewable at any time. Once the grant is depleted, no new applications entries are processed thereby eliminating overages and county-funding liabilities.

The automated system reduced the number of staff needed to administer the CIP from 15 to two. Previously, non-CIP staff were pulled from their other duties to help with this program, thus creating case backlogs and work overloads in other areas. On the first day this system was used, eight applications were denied allowances because the household had reached its limit and other members of the households were filling out applications.

The county has been told by the state that this system is being considered as a statewide model.

For more information, contact Diane Merritt or Bill Settlemyer at 910-862-6763 or 910-862-6364.

Volunteer Park Watch Program
Onslow County

Mac Sligh

Onslow County got a boost in safety because of the county’s unique Park Watch Program, in which citizens volunteer to patrol the parks as the eyes and ears of the parks and recreation department.

Since its creation, 37 citizens have registered to assist the parks department as volunteers by watching for vandalism and other crimes that occasionally occur in the parks.

As Onslow County has grown, it has acquired additional park facilities, but staff and resources have not kept up. The Park Watch Program allows the county to provide a higher level of service at no additional cost to the county while enhancing citizen involvement. It also allows Parks and Recreation personnel to perform their jobs more efficiently. Two area businesses donated “Park Watch” tee shirts and caps to give to the volunteers.

For more information, contact Mac Sligh at 910-347-5332.

Human Services Transportation Web-Based Scheduling System
Mecklenburg County

Barry Abrams, Rhonda Gooden-Taylor, Patrick Randolph, Carolyn Rogers, Mark Bevilacqua, Vince Brown, Thom Dodd, Debora Alexander

One of the most important services many Social Services Departments provide to senior citizens is transportation to medical and other important appointments. But it is often a system fraught with challenges because of its reliance on telephone scheduling and coordination with taxicab companies.

By teaming staff from DSS, Information Systems Technology and Transportation, Mecklenburg County developed a web-based application that significantly improved the process and transportation services for seniors.

County transportation workers use the web-based system to record demographic and eligibility data and then schedule specific trips. The system automatically assigns the trip to the next carrier, usually a cab company, and posts it on the Internet. Before, the county would fax the trip requests to cab companies, but faxes were often lost and pickups missed. Also the cab companies were determining their own trip mileage and sending invoices to the county for payment, a process open to errors.

Now the cab company dispatchers are constantly monitoring the Internet to see what trips have been scheduled for them. The dispatcher updates the trip information once the customer has been picked up and again when the trip is complete.

If the person hasn’t been picked up within 30 minutes of the scheduled time, the trip is flagged yellow so action can be taken. If the person hasn’t been picked up within five more minutes, the trip is flagged red so urgent actions can be taken.

The computer system keeps track of all trips, calculates mileage and produces invoices, which go to the county’s accounts payable department. This eliminates errors and assures mileage is calculated accurately.

For more information, call Barry Abrams at 704-336-4575.

Cost Efficience in Home Health Staff
Surry County Home Health

Betty Adams, Kim Atkins, Angie Cave, Cathy Chilton, Verona Coe, Linda Collins, Rita Cundiff, Debbie Davis, Sondra Davis, Linda Draughn, Shirley Freeman, Sylvia Gentry, Joy Hager, Teresa Harbour, Annette Hodges, Rachael Jarrell, Donna Mauldin, Georgia McMillian, Angela Scott, Lavinia Tillotson, Charlene Trivette, Lisa Watts, Velma Watts and Teressa Wright

Regulatory and reimbursement changes within the home health industry led Surry County to examine its work process for inefficiencies and to implement productivity standards.

The home health team looked at everything they did from the time a patient was admitted into the system until he or she was discharged. For example, the team found that if they could educate the patient and caregiver on self-care they could greatly reduce the number of patient visits and could serve even more patients.

By analyzing each step in the process, the team could eliminate redundant or unnecessary work.

As another example, staff stopped printing computer-generated medication-teaching profiles and instead taught patients using visiting nursing drug reference books and pharmacy printouts on the first home visit. This eliminated four hours of clerical time daily and better served the patients. The team also implemented productivity standards of five visits per day for clinical staff.

The team also found that it could achieve greater patient outcomes by teaching patients and caregivers to be more independent in their care. Clinical staff began providing in-depth patient education and caregiver training. Thus far, fewer visits per patient are needed.

Home health was able to decrease staff by five full-time employees. The county saved $153,000 in salaries alone. Per patient costs decreased 28 percent. All this was accomplished while serving 3.4 percent more patients.

For more information, contact the Surry County Home Health Department at 336-410-8500.

Leadership Development Project
Union County Training Advisory Committee

Monica Coble, Pam King, Carol Larrimore, Eunice McGee, Janice McGee, Marla Meggs, Kim Nichols, Carolyn Phillips, Jane Runyan, Belinda Sims and Sandi Summerlin

Realizing that the best leaders come from inside the organization, the Union County Department of Social Services began a comprehensive leadership-training program that allowed participants to explore leadership roles and to enhance their leadership skills. The department anticipated several management-level employees would retire within the next five years and chose to develop leaders “in-house” because current employees are known commodities, already possessing much of the requisite knowledge and training.

When the agency rolled out the program at a staff-wide meeting, the training advisory committee presented a list of service-oriented projects from which volunteers could choose, or they could choose one of the their own. Projects included organizing an educational fair, coordinating Christmas gifts for foster children, and coordinating the United Way Day of Caring Activities.

Each participant had an advisor appointed from within the agency or community participants who had direct knowledge of the project’s requirements. Joint meetings were set up, and everyone participated in a two-part leadership seminar facilitated by South Piedmont Community College.

Every participant completed a self-evaluation of his/her project, including a description of who had benefited and why it was necessary. The advisors and the Training Advisory Committee also evaluated the projects.

Project participants carried out their regular duties as well as the project responsibilities. The agency estimated participants contributed 570 hours to the projects. At a minimum wage rate of $5.15 per hour, the leadership projects were completed at a savings of $2,900, and the only cost was the seminars at $550. More importantly, the agency has improved the training and capacity for leadership of 11 employees.

For more information, call the Union County DSS at 704-296-4310.

Using State Inmates to Clean Shelter
Rowan County

Clai Martin, Ken Deal, Leonard Wood

Under this program, the county’s administration director worked with the NC Department of Correction to have inmates assigned to clean and care for the animals at the animal shelter during the week.

This allowed the shelter administrator to spend more time managing the shelter and working with the public and freed up staff to provide more timely services to citizens. The administrator used to spend at least one half of his time cleaning.

The community considers the program a positive rehabilitation program for inmates. The estimated cost saving is $35,000, and the county was able to convert a full-time clerical position into half time.

For more information, contact the Rowan County Health Department at 704-638-2900.

Child Abuse and Neglect Community Assessment Teams
Haywood County Department of Social Services

Tony Beamon

Haywood County DSS wanted to make sure it was being effective in helping families in which child abuse/neglect was substantiated. The department created Community Assessment Team conferences with one of the agency’s Social Work Teams to bring together the family, its support system, DSS social workers and other professionals working with the family to discuss strengths and needs. The family then worked on a plan to address its problems.

Under the old system, agency staff developed case plans with input from families. Now families are much more involved in setting their individual case plans. The CAT teams also draw on the expertise of mental health workers, school personnel and sheriff’s employees. Family friends and the faith community are also involved.

Families involved in the Community Assessment Team conferences were in treatment 29 percent less time than families who did not participate. That number increased to 37 percent when both parents participated. The project has benefited families and social workers by giving parents and children more resources to better deal with their own issues. As the families grew stronger, social service workers found they were spending significantly less time with those families but achieving better results.

Social workers were able to spend more needed time on other cases. As a result of this project, all four social work teams will use Community Assessment Teams.

For more information, contact Tony Beamon at 828-452-6620.

Mother’s, Father’s Day Free Employee Breast and Prostate Cancer Screening
Buncombe County

Rob Thornberry

On Mother's Day and Father's Day, employees and their spouses in Buncombe County received a gift from their own Personnel Department — free breast and prostate screening examinations. Knowing that early detection and treatment can be the difference between life and death, Buncombe County implemented this project as a way to raise awareness of the need for screening and to keep its biggest asset, its employees, healthy and productive.

In May and June of 2000, the county sent employees a brightly colored certificate entitling them to a screening mammogram or a prostate exam at the Buncombe County Health Center on Fridays throughout the next year. Employees were instructed to call for appointments and to bring their county identification or driver's license and the certificate when they came for screening.

Along with the certificate was a letter, signed by then County Chair Tom Sobol, explaining that in North Carolina breast cancer is the leading cause of death for women 40-55. Each year nearly 5,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer and 1,200 will die from the disease. For men, prostate cancer is the leading cause for cancer in males and accounts for 29 percent of new cancer cases. Prostate cancer represents 11 percent of all deaths from cancer in men. The screenings were free, and employees were guaranteed time off from work, without having to use sick leave, to keep their appointments. The county worked with urologists and the Asheville Breast Center's Mobile Mammography Unit.

Over the year, cases of breast and prostate cancer were detected in their early stages and treatment started. In each of the cases the employees involved thanked the county and indicated they would not have gone for the examination had it not been for this program.

Besides saving lives, the program is saving money for Buncombe County, which is self-insured. The medical cost associated with a single case of undetected breast or prostate cancer can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars and devastate any self-insurance plan. The county already had one breast cancer case costing upwards of $100,000 and a prostate case in excess of $300,000. In this way, the Mother's Day and Father's Day free employee breast and prostate screening examination attempted to contain and/or reduce run away health care expenditures.

For more information, call Rob Thornberry at 828-250-4166.