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Wilkes County DSS reports no findings in state fiscal review; Smart Start guidance lets county serve childcare waitlist
Summary
DSS Director Kevin Brown reported the state completed fiscal compliance monitoring Jan. 29 with no findings and that a Jan. 23 state notice allows counties to use Smart Start allocations to serve children on the waiting list; Brown said, “that’s a green light to spend.”
Kevin Brown, director of Wilkes County Department of Social Services, told the board Feb. 10 that Wilkes DSS’s fiscal compliance monitoring for fiscal year 2025–2026 was completed Jan. 29 with no findings. Brown relayed a state notice dated Jan. 23 saying that, because statewide spending is low, counties may use Smart Start allocations to serve children on the waiting list and that the state will review expenditures to prevent overspending by high‑use counties.
Brown said the notice gives local agencies flexibility: "That's a green light to spend and that's what they're going to do," he said, adding the department has contacted those on the waitlist and is working with providers to serve children as applications come in. He also reviewed December caseload, foster care, adoption, child development and subsidized child care reports during the update.
Board members thanked DSS staff for sheltering and emergency work during recent storms; Chairman Hardin Kennedy said the county-operated shelter served eight people and praised cross‑department coordination. County Manager John Yates noted that opening a shelter requires coordination among DSS, the Health Department, the Sheriff’s Office and Animal Control.
