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Social services seeks outreach specialist and monitors federal staffing cuts affecting aging and energy programs
Summary
Social Services Manager Jessica Strong said the department has added one FTE budget option for a program specialist to focus on outreach and education, is piloting a social‑work internship, and is watching recent federal staffing cuts at ACL, LIHEAP and SAMHSA for potential local impacts on services.
Jessica Strong, social services manager and staff liaison to the Health Council, briefed members on department budget options and a series of federal staffing changes the county is monitoring.
“We are submitting 1 FTE, 1 position on the budget options,” Strong said, describing a proposed program specialist position intended to centralize outreach and education functions the department now provides. Strong said staff currently split outreach duties—such as market‑table presence and training—with other client work and that a dedicated outreach position would free clinicians and case coordinators to serve clients.
Strong also described a plan to pilot a social‑work internship modeled on programs used elsewhere. The internship would run during the academic year (August/September through June) and provide a stipend for either a BSW or MSW student to serve social services clients and rotate through partner sites in the community.
Separately, Strong told the council the department is monitoring abrupt federal personnel changes that could affect local services. “The entire staff was, let go at the federal level,” she said of the Administration for Community Living (ACL) office that supports state aging and long‑term‑care services; Strong said she did not yet know the local impact. She also reported Monday changes at the federal team that administers LIHEAP (low income heating and energy assistance) and at SAMHSA staff who previously helped distribute naloxone (Narcan) to states. Strong said her office is checking with state partners and contract providers about continuity of services and distribution channels.
Why it matters: The program‑specialist position and internship would increase local outreach capacity and client access; the federal staffing disruptions could affect availability and distribution of aging‑services, energy‑assistance, and harm‑reduction supplies that counties and contractors rely on.
Next steps: Social services will submit the FTE for the county budget hearings, pilot the social‑work internship using available funding and coordinate with state partners to determine if alternative procurement or distribution routes are necessary for LIHEAP and naloxone.
