Alamance County’s elected leaders have given their blessing to an organizational marriage of convenience that the county’s administrators hope will enhance the functionality of three county departments.
The board of commissioners agreed to let county manager Heidi York move ahead with this proposed consolidation on Monday in order to merge the county’s health department with its veterans services office and the family justice center, which serves as a one-stop shop for victims of domestic violence.
York assured the commissioners that this three-way union would do much to improve the operations of the affected departments without much, if any, detriment to the county.
“This plan does not expand county services. It does not add to county staff, and it is budget neutral,” she went on to add. “We’re wanting to promote integration, increate organizational efficiency, and ensure a clear chain of command.”
According to York, this departmental recombination is possible thanks to a state statute that enables counties to piece together large human services agencies from previously-independent units. York observed that a number of jurisdictions have availed themselves of this authority to combine their health and social services departments. She admitted that none, as far as she knows, has used this statute to join a health department with veterans services and a family justice center. York added that, in Alamance County, these three departments have been increasingly overlapping as their staff members have recognized the common roles that substance abuse and other mental health issues play in their seemingly disparate areas of focus.
“As we’ve expanded into the behavioral needs of the community,” the county manager said, “we thought that there would be some alignment there.”
Tony Lo Giudice, the county’s health director, told the commissioners that benefit of the proposed consolidation would be to bring areas of government, like the health department, into line with the county’s general personnel policies. Lo Giudice added that his staff is presently subject to a different set of regulations, which he said has made it difficult to adjust job titles and duties to fit changing circumstances.
“This would allow us to have a single set of policies for all employees,” he elaborated, “and it would give us more adaptability with recruitment.”
Lo Giudice went on to inform the commissioners that, should they decide to proceed with the proposed consolidation, they could either assume the ultimate oversight for the new agency or delegate this job to an appointed board not unlike the county’s board of health.
In the latter case, county’s health director said that this new governing board would have most of the same duties as the 11-member health board, aside from selecting the agency’s director, who would be subject to the county manager instead. By the same token, York would have the final say over the director’s hiring and firing decisions – which isn’t currently the case for him in his capacity as the county’s health director.
York proceeded to recommend that, if the commissioners decide to establish an independent board for the new agency, they would have to appoint up to 25 members based on criteria spelled out in the enabling statute. She added that many of these people could be rolled over from the existing 11-member health board, although she suggested at least 4 additional seats for veterans services and the family justice center.
Steve Carter, the vice chairman of Alamance County’s commissioners, argued that a 15-member board may offer inadequate representation for veterans and victim’s advocates.
“I think it would be wise to have a few more members than the 15,” he added, “and increase the number of consumers of human services.”
Carter nevertheless endorsed the general premise of the consolidated human services agency. The idea also received a tentative nod from commissioner Ed Priola, who observed some “gaps in oversight” within the current, more balkanized organization.
Meanwhile, the proposed merger got particularly high marks from John Paisley, Jr., who even proposed Lo Giudice as a potential candidate for the new agency’s leadership.
“This system will hopefully let us go back to more county control and not outside control,” he added, “and I think under [Lo Giudice]’s leadership, this would be a good move.”
The health director, for his part, conceded that York’s proposed merger would have to surmount several other hurdles before a new agency head is assigned.
The first step, he said, would be to convene a “nominating” board to advise the commissioners on the inaugural members for the new agency’s governing body. He added that this group would comprise members of the local health and veterans services boards as well as a third advisory board which guides Vaya Health, a regional consortium that administers publicly-funded mental health services in Alamance County.
From there, Lo Giudice said that the county could advertise for additional members to fill any still vacant seats on the new board. Only then would the members of this new board hold a private confab with the county manager to select a director for the consolidated agency.
In any event, the commissioners voted 5-to-0 to let York move ahead with this process as it had been presented to them on Monday.
