Richland County HHS annual report: staffing shortages, program growth and public‑health priorities highlighted

Richland County Health & Human Services managers used their June 4 standing‑committee meeting to present the agency’s 2025 annual report and monthly operational updates, stressing staffing shortages in several units, program growth in comprehensive community services (CCS), and public‑health emphasis on mental-health stigma reduction and tickborne-disease outreach.

Director Stephanie opened with administrative highlights, including her recent promotion to director and several management changes across units. Managers reported recent hires (a social worker and an adult protective services worker) but said notable vacancies remain in behavioral health, fiscal positions, and nurse roles.

Finance and program staff reviewed the 2026-to-date budget position and a placement fund that drives levy exposure: HHS reported about 25–33% utilization across units in April and explained that timing differences between claimed program expenses and state/federal reimbursements can produce short-term negative balances. Staff said placement costs (out-of-county institutional placements) have been the most significant levy pressure and that work continues to find lower‑cost, local placements where possible.

Public health manager Brandy Anderson presented the public-health section of the annual report, highlighting a community health assessment that identified mental health and substance misuse as top county priorities and a successful tickborne-disease prevention campaign funded by a mini‑grant ("Taking Action with Data"). She summarized preparedness activities (regional tabletop exercises and mass‑vaccination clinics), immunization clinic service priorities for uninsured or underinsured residents, increased animal-bite investigations this spring and ongoing monitoring of emerging international threats for situational awareness. She said the public-health unit aims to maintain at least one tabletop or functional exercise per year and to continue mental‑health stigma reduction efforts.

ADRC and benefit specialists reported strong service volumes: the ADRC documented 14,610 contacts in 2025, 2,266 unduplicated consumers served by specialists, 87 long‑term care functional screens and 80 enrollments into family‑care/IRIS programs; benefit‑specialist work generated more than $1.3 million in monetary impact in 2025 by connecting clients to benefits. Managers also described transportation achievements (over 4,000 one‑way trips; volunteer drivers providing 6,000 hours), nutrition programs (meals‑on‑wheels and congregate sites), and a senior farmers-market voucher program with high redemption.

Managers across units emphasized collaborative work to prevent more costly placements—both for adults and children. Child and youth services reported 305 CPS reports in 2025 (58 screened in for initial assessment) and success in placing 10 children into guardianships to achieve permanency. CCS and CLTS staff described program demand and the intensity of services required to keep people at home instead of in higher‑cost institutional settings.

Facility leadership for Pine Valley Manor (the county nursing home) reported ongoing recruitment and retention challenges, a new staff-led culture committee, planned maintenance (roof and reservoir work), and a vendor change for linens aimed at reducing replacement costs and ensuring residents’ personal items are returned.

What’s next: Staff said they will refine packet materials used by the committee—clarifying levy exposure, Medicaid‑reimbursed pass-throughs, and program‑level client trends—to support budget decisions and provide trend analysis for future meetings.