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DSS reports more sheltering as Code Blue use rises; staff recruitment continues
Summary
Tompkins County Department of Social Services reported roughly 112 people sheltered across programs on Feb. 2, with Code Blue nightly use rising on cold nights; the department is hiring eligibility staff after recent retirements.
Tompkins County's Department of Social Services told the Health and Human Services Committee that shelter use remains high this winter and that the department is adding staff to handle caseloads.
Kit Kephart of the Department of Social Services reported that, as of Feb. 2, about 112 individuals were in county shelter programs: 91 in the regular shelter program (about 78 adults and 13 children) and 21 in Code Blue placements (16 adults and five children) at sites outside the KeyBank nightly shelter. "When it gets warmer, we drop down into 25, 20- to 27-person range. That's kind of how that has been operating," Kephart said, describing how nightly Code Blue numbers rise and fall with weather.
Kephart said KeyBank and other sites can see widely varying numbers hour to hour, and the department has sometimes been supporting as many as 70 to 80 people on cold nights when multiple sites are used. "Some nights, it's actually been pushing up towards 80," she said.
The department is also addressing staffing: a wave of retirements prompted recruitment and recent hires for eligibility work, and the department is training new employees. Kephart said those new staff are being onboarded while the department maintains shelter and other program operations.
Committee members asked for continued updates and recommended a future report from foster-care staff about recruiting and training foster parents, a related concern flagged during the meeting.
No policy change or new funding was approved at this meeting for shelter operations; the committee received the update and discussed operational challenges and staffing needs.
