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Clay County social services report shows high workload, rising long-term-care cases and strong child-support collections
Summary
County social services presented program-by-program updates: eligibility workers processed roughly 223,716 forms in 2024, long-term care caseloads rose, and the county collected nearly $7.7 million in child-support payments in 2024. Staff said some teams are understaffed relative to workloads.
County social-services leaders presented an annual update to the Clay County Board covering income maintenance, long-term care, child support, fraud and collections, and county burial costs.
Public-facing eligibility teams processed 223,716 forms in 2024, department supervisors said, with 29 eligibility workers averaging more than 8,000 documents per worker per year. Staff noted that long-term-care caseloads rose to roughly 11 percent of health-care caseloads (up from 5 percent the prior year), a trend they expect to continue as the county’s older population grows. Long-term-care caseworkers currently handle about 350–380 cases each—well above an optimal target near 200.
The child-support unit reported collections of $7,699,928 in 2024 and said federal performance incentives and reimbursement accounted for more than $1.5 million in program revenue. The department described a high share of interstate cases—about one-third of the county caseload—which staff said limits local control over enforcement and depresses current-support performance measures.
Fraud and investigations staff reported a strong year for front-end investigations that prevent improper benefits: the county completed the highest number of FPI (front-end) investigations to date and the state has increased the county’s FPI grant from $125,000 to $189,000 starting in fiscal year 2026.
Collections officers recovered $328,670 for the county in 2024 (after state and other shares), and staff described heavy workload areas such as probate medical assistance recovery and county-burial reconciliations.
Supervisors asked the board to note staffing constraints in long-term care and eligibility units; commissioners praised staff performance and recognized the workload pressures. County leaders said they would continue reviewing county-burial costs and long-term-care staffing needs and return with recommendations.
