Craven County Social Services requested and received approval to roll forward two unspent federal funding allocations into the current fiscal year: $25,955 in Home Care Community Block Grant (ARPA) funds for senior services and $94,329 in federal adoption promotion funds.

Department Director Jeffrey Merritt said the ARPA funds will support meals, renovations at the senior center, health-promotion activities and caregiver education materials. The adoption promotion funds, Merritt said, are federal awards provided to counties that exceed baseline adoption numbers or place children with special needs; the department uses those funds for foster parent recruitment and training.

Commissioners then questioned how foster children would be covered under upcoming Medicaid changes. Merritt and Victoria Jackson of Trillium Health Resources explained the statewide children and family specialty plan (a foster-care specialty plan) awarded by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to Blue Cross Blue Shield (marketed as Healthy Blue Care Together). Jackson said roughly 11% of Trillium's children are slated to move to Blue Cross Blue Shield under that plan; both Merritt and Jackson said they were coordinating with the state and with internal transition teams to avoid interruptions of care.

Commissioners asked whether services would be seamless if a foster child moved across LME-MCO catchment areas; Merritt said the county and director's association have worked for years to improve continuity and that centralizing foster-care management under the statewide plan should reduce the need for children to change plans and begin services anew. No formal county action was required beyond the budget rollovers, which were approved on unanimous roll-call votes.