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Board of Social Services warns vacancies hinder oversight, prioritizes resource‑parent support
Summary
The Montgomery County Board of Social Services reported five voting‑member vacancies, urged the council to accelerate appointments, and outlined priorities including reducing barriers for households seeking to become qualified resource (foster/kin) parents and collaborating across service areas to advance social equity.
Frances Marshall, vice chair of the Montgomery County Board of Social Services, told the Council’s Health and Human Services Committee that the board currently has five voting‑member vacancies and that delay in posting and filling them has hampered the board’s ability to provide steady institutional knowledge and oversight.
"Our board is most productive when it has a full complement of members," Marshall said. She said the vacancies had been awaiting public posting since June 2025 and that two members who could have filled partial terms declined to return.
Marshall said the board’s top policy priorities for 2025–26 include reducing barriers for households seeking to become qualified resource parents, and advocating for emerging social‑services issues as they arise. The board has been working with child welfare services, the office of eligibility and support services, and adult protective services; it also receives a monthly data report from the agency and intends to interview candidates and forward recommendations to the council once vacancies are posted.
Council members asked the board to describe candidate profiles and how the board can better collaborate with state and county agencies. Marshall said candidates who "have the time and the interest, and who can dig down into issues" make strong members, and that institutional knowledge loss is a major practical problem when multiple experienced members depart at once.
No formal motions or votes occurred at the hearing; the board requested that the council and county executive expedite posting and appointment to restore a full complement.
