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Appomattox social services director reports staff growth, backlog eliminated for CPS cases
Summary
Appomattox County’s Department of Social Services director told the board the office grew from six to 18 staff, a new phone system and state connectivity have improved operations, and CPS first‑contact backlog has been cleared with 100% compliance for January; benefits timeliness for SNAP/Medicaid has improved though not yet at state targets.
Alicia Wright, director of the Appomattox County Department of Social Services, told supervisors at the March meeting that the department has substantially increased staffing and improved service timeliness.
Wright said the department grew from six to 18 staff since she arrived, implemented a new phone system that allows tracking of inbound and outbound calls, and established a domain connection to the Virginia Department of Social Services to improve access to state systems.
She reported that a backlog of Child Protective Services (CPS) cases has been eliminated and that the department met 100 percent compliance for the first meaningful contact metric in January. Wright credited staff, specifically assistant director Sarah Barber, for progress in family services and said monthly contact and parental contact for children in foster care are now meeting legal requirements.
On benefits, Wright said SNAP and Medicaid timeliness has improved from roughly 56 percent in October toward the 90th percentile, and that additional hires will continue to reduce processing delays. She said long‑term care application processing is at 100 percent compliance after a prior variance and that the department is pursuing grants and standardizing operations in a two‑phase improvement plan; phase two is expected to take about a year.
Board members praised the work. The report was given in the context of the independent audit presented later in the meeting, which also noted certain internal control and reporting items related to the department (see separate audit article). Wright emphasized continued work to meet federal and state timeliness targets and said she expects phase one of the implementation plan to be substantially complete by mid‑April.
