Washington County seeks state sign‑off on corrective action plan as CLTS wait list persists

Washington County Health & Human Services Director Julie Newman said the county submitted a corrective action plan to the state Department of Health Services to address its Children's Long‑Term Support (CLTS) wait list and will meet with state reviewers on May 8 to seek final approval.

Newman told the committee the county contracted with Sorona Recovery to add case managers. Sorona hired one case manager who started earlier in April; the vendor and the county have made offers that should produce additional starts in May. Including internal hires, county staff would total 14 full‑time equivalents, and at an expected caseload of 35 children per case manager Newman said the county “should be able to address this as long as the numbers just don't keep growing on the wait list.”

The department reported 21 enrollments since January but said the CLTS wait list declined by only five during the same period. Newman said enrollment and new additions to the wait list were occurring at similar rates, and she put the discrepancy in the written responses the county sent to the state as part of the corrective action plan. She said she will raise at the May 8 meeting whether the state will place caveats in the plan to prevent financial penalties if the county’s wait‑list trend continues despite demonstrated enrollment activity.

Committee members pressed for explanations and future steps. Newman said county staff have proposed adding three contracted positions with Sorona and will consider whether to request new county positions in the preliminary budget process; she noted billable positions are typically offset by revenue. Newman said she will return to the committee with a quarterly update in July on enrollment and wait‑list numbers.

Committee members asked whether the county has explored root causes of growing referrals. Newman said the department has an enrollment estimate model from the state and that staff had cited several possible drivers, including greater community awareness of CLTS services and families relocating to Washington County for school supports. She cautioned the committee that, if the county cannot control the inflow of eligible children, staffing increases alone may not reduce the wait list.

Newman described the department's documentation trail with the state and said the corrective action plan includes the county’s evidence of efforts to increase enrollment. She also reported that, based on her review of other counties' data, Washington County is not unique in seeing growth in the numbers served.

The committee did not take formal action at the meeting beyond requesting quarterly reporting and directing staff to raise the county’s concerns with the state during the May 8 review.