Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Social Services topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Neighborhood and Family Services outlines integration, outreach and animal‑services priorities
Summary
The interim assistant director presented a cross‑divisional five‑year strategy that emphasizes shared intake, pilot outreach that combines WIC and animal services, digital transformation and staff development amid staffing and aging‑shelter concerns.
Angela, interim assistant director of Neighborhood and Family Services, presented the department’s strategic priorities and a multi‑year plan focused on integrated wrap‑around services across WIC, housing support, code compliance and animal services.
What she told council: Angela said a chief departmental strength is an integrated service model and close partnerships with nonprofits. She described a pilot approach that pairs WIC outreach with animal‑services engagement to reduce misperceptions and open doors for residents to receive multiple services in a single visit: “We’ve been enabling WIC to go with [animal services] to kinda open that door…we're just trying to…create a 1‑stop shop,” she said.
Challenges and needs: Angela described staffing and budget constraints, technology gaps (outdated computers and forms) and an aging animal shelter that needs upgrades. She flagged staff burnout in animal services, citing multiple recent departures and heavy emotional workload for frontline employees.
Goals and actions: - Year 1: Strengthen integrated, citizen‑centered services by developing shared intake and referral systems, cross‑training staff and establishing an “integration coordinator” or case‑manager role; expand community awareness campaigns and multilingual materials. - Year 3: Build a sustainable, supported workforce with mentorship, trauma‑informed care training, CEUs, and flexible scheduling; continue to maximize grant funding and centralized data tools. - Year 5: Move to cloud‑based case management, upgrade the animal shelter facilities and deploy mobile tools for code inspections.
Funding and next steps: Angela said HUD and WIC provide reliable grant funding and that she and staff are pursuing additional grants and partnership support for homeless prevention and maternal health. She asked council to consider support for technology upgrades, staff development, and potential capital funding for an animal‑shelter upgrade. No formal council vote or allocation was recorded during the presentation.
