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Legislature approves PlaySpace contract, ACL grant and respite-bed contract amid budget adjustments
Summary
Deborah Dennis, Youth Bureau director, told the committee it approved three social-services resolutions covering a PlaySpace contract, an Administration for Community Living grant and a respite‑bed contract.
Deborah Dennis, Youth Bureau director (Cayuga County Department of Social Services), updated the committee on youth programming and presented three resolutions that the committee approved: a contract with ABC Cayuga Inc. for PlaySpace access (H3), acceptance of a $23,918 Administration for Community Living grant to enhance adult protective services with spending clarified through June 2025 (HH4, amended), and a contract to secure three respite/alternative-detention beds (HH5).
Dennis said the PlaySpace agreement lets Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)-eligible clients and foster families use facilities for supervised visits and child-focused activities. The department reported it has spent roughly $5,000–$6,000 on the PlaySpace program over recent years and that 50–75 individuals have used the assistance; the committee approved the contract on a voice vote with one legislator recorded as abstaining because a relative works at the PlaySpace provider.
On the ACL grant, Dennis said the department received an additional second or third allocation of ACL funds, this one for $23,918, and confirmed the allocation must be spent by June 2025. Legislators adopted a clarifying amendment that added the phrase that the department intends to provide services “through June 2025,” and then approved the amended resolution.
HH5 authorized a contract to maintain three respite beds with a community provider. Social-services staff described the beds as a community-based, 24/7 staffed group‑home model used as an alternative to juvenile detention and for short-term respite and stabilization. Dennis said the department negotiated some adjustments with the provider and worked with county finance staff to reallocate existing lines (including a $67,000 line identified as an accounting offset and a $31,000 reduction from a professional-services line) to cover the higher contract amount; staff described the alternative as far more costly when youth are placed out‑of‑county in detention beds.
Committee discussion covered utilization, whether beds could be reduced from three to two, transportation costs for out-of-county tuition-based preschool placements, and the department’s plan to reallocate a 2024 youth sports group’s unclaimed $4,500 if a current contract is terminated. All three resolutions were approved by the committee after votes; PlaySpace approval recorded one abstention and the ACL grant passed as amended.
