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Putnam committees approve social-services transfers, Code Blue and victim services funding
Summary
Health and social-services committee approved several fund transfers and contract renewals: a daycare/budget transfer to cover rising daycare demand, Code Blue motel funding and hotel placements, Safe Harbor anti-trafficking funding, and Child Advocacy Center contract renewals and grants.
Putnam County’s Health, Social, Educational & Environmental committee approved multiple budget transfers and contract renewals Tuesday to support social services, homeless response and victim-support programs.
The committee approved a fund transfer (24T536) to cover increased daycare special-education referral costs through the remainder of 2024; staff said eligibility changes and additional referrals drove the increase. Members approved a second transfer (24T537) to cover Code Blue motel placements and the Women’s Resource Center hotel costs; staff explained Code Blue activates housing placements when temperatures fall below freezing and that Brewster Cares oversees the program in the county.
The committee approved a $30,000 allocation for Safe Harbor, the program for youth identified as trafficked, exploited or at risk up to age 21; staff said referrals for Safe Harbor services typically route to Green Chimneys. The committee also approved budgetary amendments to renew the Child Advocacy Center contract (one amendment for $9,193 and a separate three-year grant renewal totaling about $1.2 million over three years). Staff reported the Child Advocacy Center received about 75 referrals in 2024 that were routed to center services and about 500 total related calls across the system.
Why it matters: the transfers and renewals support immediate and continuing services for vulnerable residents, including emergency winter sheltering, child abuse response and youth anti-trafficking services. Committee members discussed local need, recognized that demand for motel placements and domestic-violence services has grown, and expressed support for keeping funds available for those services.
All items were approved by voice vote; staff will proceed to execute the contract renewals and place funds into the appropriate expense lines for service delivery and reporting.
