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Board Members Present: Howard Gentry, Gwen Harris, Mary Kate Mouser, George Price
Board Members Absent: Dot Dobbins, Barbara Toms and Frank Boehm
Legal Advisor: Christy Feldman, Attorney for Metro Government representing Metro Social Services Board
Mayor Liaison: Hershell Warren

Board Meeting Discussion

Because the Board did not have a quorum at the appointed time for the meeting, agenda items requiring Board action were postponed until a quorum was present. Commissioner Gentry requested that the meeting begin with Director’s Report.

Director’s Report

Mrs. Robinson reported that Metro Human Resources, the Mayor’s Office and the Civil Services Commission have all reviewed and approved Metro Social Services’ request to implement a pilot compressed work starting January 5, 2009.

Mrs. Robinson stated that the Metro Finance Department has implemented a full scale hiring freeze, except for the Fire and Police Departments. MSS currently has four vacant positions in the department, all which provide direct services to seniors. The hiring freeze requires that these positions remain vacant until the end of the fiscal year.

Mrs. Robinson stated that negotiations have begun with the National Council on Aging (NCOA) to develop a partnership to place low income seniors in internships within the Nutrition and Homemakers programs. These interns will receive training on provide these program services, with the target date of January 5 for submission of the application to NCOA.

Mrs. Robinson thanked Giovanni Achoe-Corley for leading MSS in working with Project Homeless Connect along with other MSS staff. Nashville’s first Project Homeless Connect was described extremely successful.

Mrs. Robinson congratulated the two MSS TSU social work graduates, Carol Wilson and Buist Hardison. This will make a total of four staff that has gone on to complete a social work degree to comply with the Social Work Title Protection Law enacted in the 2006 legislative session.

MSS participation in the Metropolitan Employees Consolidated Charities Campaign was chaired by Julius Witherspoon and Linda Shelton this year. MSS exceeded our target goal by $4,100.

MSS has also received the first nutrition waiver referral and it is anticipated that additional referrals will be forthcoming.

Mrs. Robinson concluded by committing on the Metro budget kickoff which is scheduled for January 15. At that time, all departments will receive guidance from the Mayor as to whether department budgets will reflect budget cuts. Mrs. Robinson stated that she requested for the senior management team to prepare a worst case budget scenario.

Commissioner Gentry invited the Mayor attend the upcoming board retreat and the Mayor has agreed to be at the retreat. It was also determined that Friday, January 9 to be used to discuss the proposed P&C model and that Saturday, January 10 will be the January MSS Board Meeting. (0:00 – 15:16)

Finance Report

Pam McEwen reported that MSS is approximately $163,000 under budget, with about $58,000 of that in personnel expense. Pam stated that as a result of approval of the Medicaid Waiver Program, the MSS budget was increased from $7,225,200 to $7,322,500.

Some programs are slightly over budget, primarily related to fringe benefits. Our budget target reversion through November was $58,000 under budget for our salaries. The projection for the fiscal year is for MSS to be under budget by $141,000, of the $157,800 goal identified by the Metro Finance Department.

Although there have been increases in several contracts during the last three years, the MSS budget was not increased to fund the additional costs. In previous years, MSS has been able to offset the increased cost of contracts with funds which were available in personnel costs, due to vacant positions. MSS currently has very few vacant positions, so there will be limited funding remaining in personnel costs. Increases were requested in previous years to cover the increases in the contract costs, but these have not been added to the MSS budget.

Pam concluded by stating our special donations fund is at $28,000. (15:30– 23.01)

Board Meeting Discussion

With a quorum present, Commissioner Gentry called the Metro Social Services Board Meeting to order at the Bordeaux Library. Commissioner Gentry obtained a motion to approve the October board meeting summary.Motion was properly moved, seconded and accepted. (23:02 – 23:29)

Committee Reports
MSS Board of Commissioners Planning and Coordination Ad Hoc Committee
Commissioner Gentry stated that Renee Pratt will present the recommended business model from Ad Hoc Committee on Planning & Coordination. This recommendation is for discussion only, with Board action scheduled for January 10.
Renee Pratt indicated that the committee included Pastor Roderick Glatt, Commissioner Gwen Harris, Commissioner Barbara Toms, Commissioner Frank Boehm, Dr. Dan Cornfield, Renee Pratt, Dinah Gregory, Giovanni Achoe-Corley and Commissioner Mary Kate Mouser.
The committee met a total of five times, during which the development of Planning and Coordination was reviewed and discussed. Leaders of six service providing agencies made presentations regarding how their organizations conduct planning and coordination. Renee Pratt stated that after careful consideration the committee agreed on seven recommendations for the board’s consideration as they relate to Planning and Coordination.

1. MSS needs to develop its own model of Planning and Coordination and we propose that our model will be created by the establishment of a separate Planning and Coordination unit within MSS with a Director who has experience and background in the field of planning and coordination and who can be focused on the single task of planning and coordination. The Director of this unit shall have no other duties within MSS. Appropriate staff support as requested and recommended by the Director is also recommended and this support will come from MSS personnel currently employed.
2. Because all planning and coordination units within other Metro agencies are data driven, we recommend that the focus of the MSS Planning and Coordination unit also be data driven and that data shall be procured by utilizing other agency’s infrastructure data on pertinent and related social service issues as well as establishing selected focus groups around Davidson County to establish Nashville community’s opinions on social service needs.
3. In order to properly ascertain community needs and priorities of these needs, it is recommended that MSS change its compartmentalization of social service recipients to compartments of needs/issues rather than individual population groups. These groups of needs should include: Workforce Development/Economic Opportunity, Food/Nutrition, Housing, and Dependent Home Care. Over time, these needs may change as the MSS Planning and Coordination Unit identifies new social service gaps in Nashville.
4. After a thorough planning process, the MSS Planning and Coordination Unit should establish a systematic process for gathering, interpreting, and reporting data about service gaps in Nashville-Davidson.
5. MSS should issue an annual report on existing and projected social service gaps in Nashville.
6. In order to address the social service gaps identified in the MSS annual report, MSS should:
1. At the time the MSS annual report is released, host an annual meeting of social service providers, researchers, and local philanthropic organizations to identify community priorities and to align local philanthropic priorities and the development priorities of local social service providers with the community priorities identified in the MSS annual report on social service gaps; and
2. throughout the year support private development initiatives by those social service agencies that have aligned their development priorities with the community priorities identified in the MSS annual report.
7. MSS Planning and Coordination should be bottom up and inclusive.

Renee Pratt thanked the committee for their hard work and dedication to the process. Commissioner Gentry then expressed appreciation to Renee Pratt for her hard work and for accepting the chairmanship of this committee.
Commissioner Harris questioned recommendation #1, stating that the commissioner should be cognizant of an uncertain budget and that assigning staff only one specific task may require more discussion.
Commissioner Mouser commented on #5 and #6 regarding the recommendation for an Annual Report should be issued, indicating that information should be shared on an ongoing basis. Commissioner Mouser pointed out that there are various ways of sharing information in a cost effective way, such as including it on the web page. Also, Commissioner Mouser stated that changes in needs may occur at a rate which might not be best reflected in an annual report, and that a three year time period might be more appropriate. She suggested consideration that there be some flexibility in refining the model.
Mrs. Robinson commented that we have currently reduced our cost with our newsletters because we are not printing as many copies and most distribution is done electronically. Commissioner Gentry stated that all recommendations need to be presented at the upcoming retreat so they can be discussed fully. (23:30 – 32:32)
Old Business
Update on Compressed Work Week
Renee Pratt stated that Metro Human Resources, the Mayor’s office along with the Civil Services Commission have reviewed and approved MSS to implement a compressed work starting January 5, 2009. MSS operating hours will be 8:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Renee Pratt further stated that MSS is working on a communication plan in order to share this information with the public, stakeholders and partners regarding our new hours.

Mrs. Robinson stated that Yuri Hancock, the MSS Human Resource Manager has already distributed a document to staff who have committed to the compressed work week. They will sign the document and it will become a part of their personnel file. Performance measures will also be used to ensure that the quality of services is not negatively affected.

Commissioner Harris asked how many staff will be participating in the compressed work week and Renee Pratt stated about 38 staff, including several homemakers. Homemakers will confirm and have clients sign off on a document that it is acceptable for homemakers to make visits later in the afternoon. (32:40 – 34:47)

New Business
Motion for adjournment was accepted and approved (35:11)