While progress is being made, Steve Marshall said his resolve to fix the issues with the Patrick County Department of Social Services (DSS) hasn’t changed.
Two weeks ago, Marshall, of the Blue Ridge District, provided The Enterprise with copies of the correspondence between Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court Judge Kimberly Belongia and county officials in which several concerns were raised, including the possibility that the state would take over the local department.
Since then, the county has worked to address the issues, and Marshall said a new DSS director has been hired and scheduled to start work Thursday, August 1. He said he did not recall the new director’s name.
Marshall took office in January, after winning his election bid to the board of supervisors.
In January, an administrative board was tasked with overseeing the local social services agency. Board members included Clyde Deloach, Roger Hayden, Chris Caviness and others, as well as Judy Beidrycki, who then served as chairman, and most recently, has served as the interim director of the agency, Marshall said.
He added there are two types of local boards appointed to provide oversight of local DSS agencies: Administrative – which is the most common, and Advisory. Administrative boards have a number of tasks, but Marshall said an advisory board, in contrast, may designate a local government official to serve as the board. The DSS director then reports to that person.
A document titled, “Blue Ridge District Supervisor’s Report – Board of Social Services,” dated Feb. 12, noted the change from an administrative to an advisory board “has been considered in the past by the Patrick County BOS (Board of Supervisors), who reportedly rejected the idea owing to the belief that it would require the County Administrator to take an active role in the administration of DSS.
“This impression may have been an error caused by the melding of DSS and CSA (Child Services Act) in Patrick County,” the document stated. “While I can find no reference in Virginia law to account for county administration being involved in DSS, there is a history of involvement by administrators in a support role on CSA boards across the state. … This would not be an effect of changing to an advisory status as the CSA status is unrelated and would remain unchanged.”
On April 8, the board of supervisors considered a resolution to appoint County Administrator Beth Simms as the local Board of Social Services, and after the administrative board was dissolved, appoint an advisory board.
“It’s one member from each district, and at-large, and my position which is now ex-officio – no vote. By doing that I actually removed any vote from myself. I just basically sit there to report back to the board (of supervisors) if it need be,” Marshall said.
The only two seats currently available on the board are for the Peters Creek District and the Blue Ridge District.
Recently, the Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed to appoint two people to the DSS Advisory Board – Alice Barnard will represent the Dan River District and Derina Scott will represent the Smith River District.
Joe Lanham was also appointed to the Advisory Board to represent the Mayo River District, but that vote was 4 to 1 vote, with Marshall casting the dissenting vote.
Later, Marshall said the only reason he voted against Clayton Kendrick’s appointment wasn’t because of the individual, but rather because of the way the process was handled.
“The individual he (Kendrick) ultimately found is quite capable as far as he’s an empathetic guy. He’s a good guy. The reason I voted no, I should have abstained, I made a technical error there,” said Marshall, who had a person from Kendrick’s district volunteer to serve on the advisory board in March.
Kendrick “blatantly refused to speak with her, even give her the courtesy of a phone call,” Marshall said, adding that he didn’t know Kendrick’s reasoning for that.
Regardless, according to Marshall, Kendrick “accused me of running the old (administrative DSS) board off. He said he had several friends on the old board, and they’re very upset about it. I guess it not being an administration board or being in charge type of thing.
“I still don’t understand what his motivation was, I have no idea,” Marshall said of Kendrick, who eventually emailed the person Marshall recommended to fill the Mayo River District seat. “I’m completely 100 percent befuddled by his reasoning on that.”
Marshall said he had a person – Jane Cardwell – in mind to fill the Blue Ridge District seat, but she was chosen to fill the at-large seat instead.
“I had given my proxy to Doug Perry to find somebody from STEP because he sits on the board for STEP. He’s our representative from the Board of Supervisors. I asked him at this last meeting, and he said he hadn’t been able to do that, or find time or whatever, or just find anyone with interest,” Marshall said. “I’m not sure what the issue was, but he said go ahead and find someone, so I’m actually talking to a few people now.”
Marshall said he thought getting someone from STEP on the DSS Advisory Board was a good idea because he wants organizations and people who actually deal and work with children appointed.
“STEP certainly understands all that. So, I want folks who are more empathetic to the situations that DSS deals with on a daily basis,” he said, adding he’s still trying to find someone who fits that bill.
During the July 11 interview held in The Enterprise office, Marshall said he would support any solution to keep the county’s children safe, even the state coming in and taking over DSS.
“If the board of supervisors does not decide to take an urgent posture to rectify the situation, then yes, whatever solution is needed to keep the kids safe,” he said.
While she believes the county is working on any issues with DSS, Jane Fulk, of the Dan River District, said she has heard many concerns.
“I’d been working with some people and they’re not happy with it (department). There’s’ a lot of non-returning of calls, I don’t know if it’s because there’s nobody specifically in charge or what’s going on, but there have been some problems and there are still some problems. I don’t know how that will be resolved, but there are still some problems,” she said.
Fulk said she knows of people who have called DSS and left messages that have never been returned.
“That can happen anyplace, but DSS needs to just step up and do better. I know they’re shorthanded, I understand that,” Fulk said, adding that she also doesn’t believe the state will take over the local DSS.
“I think we just need to have a plan and see if we can’t work something out. I’m sure that they are watching us, but I think if we could get a plan in place, it would work out,” she said.
Fulk said she would have preferred Marshall to talk more with the other supervisors before acting on DSS issues, “but that’s up to him.”
Jonathan Wood, of the Peters Creek District, said anytime families and social services are involved, it’s important.
“I think we do need to step back and look at it because we don’t want any children, any families getting hurt from anything that we could control. I do think we need a few outside sources to help us step back and look at what really needs to be done,” he said.
As far as the situation being as bad as Marshall described it, Wood said he’s not sure and would do more research into the subject before he “can say one way or another.”
Wood said he’s also not aware of the state preparing to take over the local DSS.
“I think” the department is “something we really need to focus on and also, we still need some more volunteers for the DSS Committee, one from each district. I know Peters Creek needs one, and we also need one more for Blue Ridge, and those will be the people that will help make these decisions going down the road,” he said.
Wood encouraged anyone interested to go to the county’s website to fill out and submit an application.
Kendrick, of the Mayo River District, said he wouldn’t put much faith in the idea of the state coming in.
“We haven’t got any information saying so, and I don’t know where Steve (Marshall) gets his resources,” he said, adding that he also doesn’t believe the situation with DSS is as bad as Marshall made it out to be. Kendrick said he believes things will change, and “I think they’ll get it all turned around.”
Doug Perry, chairman, and of the Smith River District, said DSS has been an issue in the county for a very long time.
“Those root causes that got us where we are, have been addressed and are being cleaned up. So, whatever it was, whatever it is, changes have been made and change is coming. It’s not something that’s going to happen overnight, unfortunately,” he said.
Perry said he “100 percent understands” Marshall’s concerns, especially when children and elderly are involved.
“That’s change that we needed to happen yesterday. But again, those root causes have been addressed and have been changed,” Perry said, adding changes have been occurring over the last 4 to 6 months.
To his knowledge, Perry said the state is not looking to come in and take over the local agency.
“I think as long as we’re showing growth and we’re showing those positive changes, we’re showing the plans in place to fix things, I think the state will watch,” Perry said. “Unless we’re just completely failing, I don’t think the state will come in.”
Marshall said he still supports the idea of the DSS Advisory Board.
“Nothing’s happened to change my mind about that,” said Marshall, a former foster child himself, and his resolve to identify and resolve issues in the local agency will remain.
“I don’t see anything out there that could change it,” he said.
In other matters at a board meeting on July 22, the board of supervisors:
*Chose a vendor to replace the HVAC system at the library in Stuart.
Perry said the county sent out five requests for quotes and received three back.
“We greatly appreciate in no order here Hydro Air, McKinney Heating & Air Conditioning, and Vipperman Heating and Air. We greatly appreciate them answering us, they’re all extremely reputable and do wonderful work, so we can’t go wrong,” he said.
The lowest bid was about $67,000, the second lowest bid was $75,964, and the highest bid was $77,000.
Fulk made the motion to go with the lowest bid, and have the HVAC system installed as soon as possible.
Wood questioned whether the board wanted to keep its business in the county or outsource to other localities.
“The way I see it is, if your business is in Patrick County, you’re paying your taxes here, you’re doing a lot of business here, you’re benefiting our economy as a whole. If you’re not from our county, even if your bid is a few dollars higher, that’s something I think we should consider,” he said.
Marshall said he looked over the three bids and believes the bid from McKinney was the most meticulous proposal.
“They certainly had the best warranty as far as what they explained on there, and they’re covering the thermostats as well. Hydro Air Systems really didn’t go into much detail,” Marshall said.
While he agrees that the board should support county businesses, Marshall said “the price difference was pretty extraordinary.”
Fulk said she would agree if the middle bid was closer to the lowest bid. As it is, the savings for the county would help to do some of the other” needed repairs.
The board approved using McKinney Heating & Air Conditioning, of Henry County, as the vendor in a 4-1 vote, with Wood dissenting.
*Approved restoring public comment period to the beginning of meetings.
*Approved a resolution that would allow the county to participate in the seeking settlement of opioid related claims against Kroger and its related corporate entities.
*Appointed Rodney Boyd, of the Dan River District, to the Economic Development Authority (EDA).
*Heard reports from the supervisors.
