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DSS director announces UNC evaluation grant, strategic plan and a new data dashboard
Summary
Director Hunt told the board the department was offered a grant through the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to fund a scholarly evaluation team; staff also reported passing a recent RETA audit, and described a four‑year strategic plan and a data dashboard to track performance measures.
Director Hunt briefed the board on multiple items including a newly offered grant paired with an external evaluation team, recent audits, and the department's strategic plan and data dashboard work.
On a grant opportunity, Hunt said the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will coordinate a scholarly team to evaluate select department issues. "They asked me to come up with three things," Hunt said; staff proposed workforce development and retention, foster-parent recruitment, and strategies to reduce the number of children entering foster care. Hunt said the grant is in early stages and that the award amount and final scope have not yet been disclosed.
Hunt also reported the department's recipient-eligibility determination audit (RETA) — a state review of 200 Medicaid cases — returned a 98% pass rate against a standard of 96.4%, with two overpayments totaling $140.35. Staff said the fiscal monitoring review likewise identified no errors in the sampled months.
On planning and performance, Hunt described a four‑year strategic plan aligned with state practices and a data dashboard under development with assistance from Donna Fayko and Kim Murray to make state reports and MOU benchmarks more usable for managers and the board; the dashboard will be updated quarterly and is intended to support data-driven decisions.
Hunt asked board members to submit headshots for the annual report; staff also noted some dates and a 'results' column needed correction before publication and confirmed the strategic plan had not yet been published.
Board members expressed appreciation for staff work and asked for follow-up on documentation and any grant details as they become available.
