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Appomattox DSS director says agency rebuilt after walkout, child-protection timeliness improves
Summary
Alicia Wright, director of AppMedics/Department of Social Services, told the Appomattox County Board she rebuilt the agency from six to 20 staff, eliminated a three-year backlog of child-protective investigations, and improved timeliness metrics, while inviting the public to an advisory board meeting Sept. 8 for more data.
Alicia Wright, introduced to the Appomattox County Board as Director of AppMedics, Department of Social Services, said Wednesday that the agency has largely recovered from a past staffing crisis and is meeting or exceeding several state benchmarks.
Wright said the department grew from six employees when she began to 20 and restored full connectivity to the state network that supports child and adult protective services. "We have eliminated a 3 year backlog of child protective investigations, ensuring every impacted family was contacted and assessed," she told the board.
Wright detailed measurable improvements: first-contact timeliness for child protective services rose from about 30.8% last July to 83% this year, with multiple months at 100%; CPS referrals closed before the due date rose from 6.3% to 97.4%; SNAP timeliness reached 100% in April and May; and Medicaid timeliness improved to 89.9% in June. She said some public-benefits processing still needs work but overall performance improved by roughly 9 percentage points year over year.
The presentation included operational changes Wright said supported those gains: restoring access to the required state network, rebuilding internal procedures and policies, expanding staff and instituting employee manuals and standard operating procedures. "As director, I value dignity, respect, compassion, accountability, and timely intervention as core values," Wright said.
Board members praised the reported turnaround. One board member said a state ombudsman told the advisory committee he had not seen such a rapid and strong turnaround in his tenure since 2007.
Wright invited the public and board members to an advisory board meeting scheduled for Sept. 8 at 5 p.m., where she said she would present more in-depth data on state and federal compliance and the department's phase-based improvement plan.
The board did not take formal action tied to the presentation. Wright said she would continue pursuing grant opportunities and internal optimization steps to sustain the improvements.
