Health official presents consolidation of services, defends qualifications amid reappointment questions

Sarah Barayfield told the Montgomery County Health and Human Services Committee that the county’s public health and mental health departments moved into a single location at Venner Road and have been operating there since Nov. 24. She said the move was intended to centralize services and improve outcomes, allowing Department of Social Services clients to walk to the health department without a prior appointment for assistance with vaccines, car seats, lead‑poisoning screening, Naloxone distribution and needle disposal.

Barayfield said staff hosted an open house on Nov. 7 for DSS workers and that, since opening, the department has provided targeted services including four car‑seat installations and six rental‑registry events that helped 55 seniors register property under New York’s rental‑registry law. She described ongoing collaboration with DSS staff named in the meeting (Becky, Kim, Kayleen, Andrew, Peter and Dan) and said shared office space has enabled coordinated casework and problem‑solving for difficult placements.

Barayfield also addressed criticisms about her reappointment and alleged noncompliance. She displayed diplomas from SUNY Albany and cited New York State Public Health Law 351 and Mental Hygiene Law 4109 as the basis of her qualifications, saying that those documents should “put that misinformation to rest.” She called persistent public criticism “exhausting” for her and staff and asked to be left to continue program development.

Committee members asked no substantive follow‑up questions of Barayfield during the presentation. The meeting record shows the presentation was followed by the committee moving multiple resolutions to the full board.