Board approves county role as fiscal agent for multi-county foster-parent grant
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Summary
County social-services director Jackie Clayton told supervisors the Northern Neck foster-parent program grant will be fully funded; the board approved serving as fiscal agent for the regional, reimbursable one-year grant that could be extended to five years if benchmarks are met.
The Northumberland County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 11 approved the Department of Social Services’ request to act as fiscal agent for a collaborative foster-parent recruitment program among five Northern Neck counties.
DSS director Jackie Clayton said the grant is fully funded and reimbursable; the county expects to include salary, payroll taxes and supervision costs in the application. Clayton said the position would be a degreed program coordinator (about $50,000) whose base would be Northumberland and who would travel to each county on court days. She told the board the state’s reimbursement turnaround is no more than 60 days and the county plans monthly reimbursement requests.
Clayton described benchmarks in the application requiring recruitment of foster parents in each county; if those benchmarks are met the grant may be extended up to five years. She said the county expects to be the fiscal agent because Northumberland administered the prior iteration of the program and retains past budgets and documentation.
Board members asked whether the county could carry payroll until reimbursements arrive; staff said the county budget can support initial payments and that monthly reimbursements should keep the program cash-flow neutral. The board moved and approved the request to apply and to accept the grant if awarded.
Clayton said the program’s chief benefit would be keeping children in the region rather than placing them outside the five counties, and that a car is included in the grant for travel.
