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Social Services reports Code Blue use, seeks venison program budget increase; committee discusses warming center options
Summary
Steuben County's Social Services reported Code Blue usage and costs, approved a $5,575.50 increase to the Venison Coalition contract, and discussed improvements and possible RFPs for warming centers to reduce motel spending and increase service engagement.
The committee approved an increase to the county's Venison Coalition contract to $13,891.50 for 2026 — an increase of $5,575.50 — to cover higher processing costs from expanded permitting; the processed venison is donated to food banks, Lise Reynolds said.
Reynolds provided detailed Code Blue season metrics: the county's Warming Center served 172 unique individuals during the season; the Department of Social Services connected 37 of those people with a Corning homeless‑services partner and 31 have engaged in services. She compared April 2025 system spending (motel costs $2,078,395; other services $2,159,680; 769 adults and 93 children served) with April 2026 data that reflects Warming Center use (motel costs $1,929,204 including Warming Center; overall cost $2,015,180; 641 total served — 488 adults and 153 children). Reynolds said the Warming Center being open 24/7 has reduced motel placements but the department “has not yet figured out a way to keep track of declines or walkouts.”
Committee members pressed for more granular data. Nicholas Pelham asked for counts and geographic distribution of people housed (Bath, Corning, Hornell) and the percentage coming from each location, requesting actual person counts rather than room counts. Legislator Kelly H. Fitzpatrick raised security and emergency‑call concerns at warming centers. The committee discussed issuing a Request for Professional Services (RFP) before the next Code Blue season to identify additional warming center options and locations, including possibly repurposing vacant buildings, and emphasized linking housing with services such as employment and mental health support.
What happens next: staff were directed to provide more detailed origin/destination counts and emergency call data; potential RFP and site options will be explored before the 2026‑27 Code Blue season.
