Shenandoah Valley Social Services copes with increased caseload

Shenandoah Valley Social Services Director Elizabeth Middleton told the Augusta County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that the agency’s caseload and administration of benefit programs increased substantially during the 2011 fiscal year.

Middleton said the agency, which serves Augusta County, Staunton and Waynesboro, saw its caseload increase 8.7 percent in fiscal 2011 over fiscal 2010. And, she said, caseloads have increased 42 percent in five years.

Also during fiscal 2011, Shenandoah Valley Social Services increased its combined agency payments for operations and benefits by $7 million. Middleton said many of the funds administered by the agency include federal programs, such as Medicaid and the food stamp program.

On a more positive note, Middleton said Shenandoah Valley Social Services facilitated the adoption of 30 children in the past fiscal year, and was recognized as the top performing agency in its size group in benefit programs by the state and the Virginia Department of Social Services’ commissioner.

Also on Tuesday, supervisors were briefed on a county master plan for fire-and-rescue services by Fire-Rescue Chief Carson Holloway. Holloway said one of the recommendations coming from studies is that the county divide its emergency organization into three battalions that would serve the western, central and eastern portions of the locality.

Fire and rescue departments in those regions would fall within one of the three battalions. Holloway also asked supervisors to allocate enough money in the upcoming budget year to hire 18 new full-time personnel. Fifty-nine full-time fire-and-rescue workers work for the county now.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Tracy Pyles asked his colleagues to spend the next couple of weeks reviewing the plan and to meet with Holloway.

Pyles described the master plan as “very, very important” and noted that the county is starting work on the 2012-13 budget in the coming weeks.

On another emergency planning matter, the supervisors were briefed by Donna Good, the county’s emergency communications director, on bids received for new mobile and portable radios needed to meet narrow banding and communication needs for Augusta and Nelson counties and the cities of Waynesboro and Staunton.

Good said a committee of fire-and-rescue and emergency communications personnel recommended Motorola Solutions’ bid of about $1.2 million.

Beverley Manor District Supervisor David Karaffa asked if the recommended radios had been tested in full fire apparatus. He said his research showed problems with firefighters using new radios in full gear that includes face covering.

Travis Moyers of Augusta County Fire/Rescue said the recommended radios had not been tested in an actual fire, but he said he liked the features they offered.

Supervisors are expected to consider the Motorola bid tonight. The project is largely funded by two federal grants. A FEMA grant of more than $1.2 million used by all four localities requires no local match. A second, smaller grant awarded to Augusta County Fire/Rescue for $741,000 is reimbursable by 80 percent and requires a 20 percent local match.