Supervisors OK up to $35,664 to fund a Social Services case aide for remainder of year

Page County Social Services Director Kurt Emerling asked supervisors on Oct. 7 to fund a case aide to relieve overloaded family-services workers and foster-care staff.

Emerling said the county’s family-services unit is understaffed: two foster-care workers currently carry an outsized caseload, and the department has 40 foster children in care. He told the board that a case aide—someone with a high‑school education trained to handle administrative, transportation and visitation tasks—would permit licensed workers to focus on direct social‑work duties. Emerling said the department could contribute about $9,300 toward the hire and requested the board consider up to $35,664 to cover salary and full family health insurance for a year; staff and supervisors noted the hire for the remainder of the fiscal year would cost less than the annual maximum previously cited.

Supervisors asked about placements, foster‑parent availability and whether the county could place children within Page County when appropriate. Samantha Fox, a supervisor in the family-services unit who was present, said the county currently has about a dozen approved foster families; some families have reached their placement limits and therapeutic placements sometimes require use of outside‑of‑county providers. Board members and staff discussed possible funding sources, including the fund balance or board reserve, and the board voted to approve funding up to the requested amount for the remainder of the year.

The board directed staff to return with the exact appropriation amount once hiring timing and insurance elections are confirmed. The action aims to reduce caseloads to policy targets and improve compliance with visitation and casework standards; the transcript shows supervisors framed the funding request as a necessary investment in child safety and staff retention.