The purpose of this quarterly report is to provide specialized information to the County Manager and the Deputy County Manager. This is the department’s means of marketing our services, creating credibility and building the identity of Community Support Services within County Government.

Community Support Services Quarterly Focus

The Annual Homeless Veterans Stand-Down was a success and helped over 200+ homeless veterans.

83% of Medicaid billing errors were detected by staff auditing, resulting in a savings of $864,416.

33 additional Agricultural producers are now in compliance with the EPA Worker Protection Standard Program.

42,195 citizens received communicable disease services via the Health Department and were at or below 100% of pov-erty level.

58,495 citizens received medical services via the Health Department and are at or below 100% of poverty level.

$110,680 was saved by Alachua County citizens by using their NACO pharmacy discount saving cards.

Social Services provided healthcare services to 259 clients.

Social Services provided $66,035 of Rent and Utilities assistance to Alachua County citizens, which impacted 622 house-hold members.

CHOICES began outreach services in Shand’s Emergency Department.

PPC Staff organized a Thanksgiving Turkey giveaway and holiday party in East Gainesville where it distributed 70 turkeys, gifts to over 200 youth and 30 adults and 10 gift baskets with Publix gift cards to needy residents.

Health Department reported 13 new CHOICES clients registered, 282 active CHOICES clients, and 138 clients received 261 services in this quarter.

Veterans Stand-down Veterans Stand-down

Elmira K. Warren, Director of Community Support Services

From the Desk of Elmira Warren - Quarter 1 2009-2010

Statistics

In December, the Crisis Center received a congratulatory letter from the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for our assistance on a request from the White House. On December 20th, the Center celebrated its 40th birthday, signifying 40 years of continuous service to the citizens of Alachua County.

Office of Victim Services and Rape Crisis Center assisted a domestic violence victim by purchasing an airline ticket and transporting her to an international airport in order to escape the batterer.

Office of Victim Services and Rape Crisis Center at the request of CSS Administration responded to a letter received by the Department during the Christmas holidays. The letter, written by a 12 year old, arrived without a phone number or address. The child expressed unselfish concern for her siblings and the bleak outlook for the holidays because their fa-ther had abandoned the family. The program used money from their donation fund to purchase two gifts for each child. The gifts were picked up by a very appreciative mother on Christmas Eve.

Community Veterans Day Ceremony honored two of the County's oldest veterans. One was 92 and the other was 89 years old. They were recognized for their WW II service helping liberate France during the D-Day landing.

Veterans Services Director served on Board of Directors for Bikers on Parade for the USA. Their annual event was held Nov 15 with over 1500 motorcycles parading around City of Gainesville. This event raised over $26,000.00 for Alachua County veteran organizations.

Veterans Services Director helped host Ride 2 Recovery event in which 150 wounded warriors rode bicycles through Alachua County on the way to Duval County.

Performance Measures Highlights

2009 Lifesaver Award Recipient

Mary Jane Deedrick

Issues December, is traditionally a slower month; Veterans Services Counselors assisted 171 veterans in face-to-face interviews.

This was the most veterans assisted in one month in past three years or more!

Resignation of CHOICES Director.

Negotiations for a new network administrator for CHOICES are ongoing. The anticipated 2/1/10 start date was ex-tended due to a request to have a special BoCC meeting regarding the proposed contract.

Social Services experienced a $100,000 reduction in its Medicine Program. Staff informed BoCC that the loss of funds was covered through a combination of service reductions and non-recurring revenues.

Christmas day of 2009, I was down at the Crisis Center answering the phones when a call came in on the Suicide hotline. The elderly man on the line told me he and his wife live alone in a small trailer in a nearby town. They do not have power or heat so they take turns waking up at night to put logs on the fireplace which is their only source of heat. They both have multiple medical issues that require lots of expensive medica-tions and if they do not get them, they will be in severe pain. He said the worst part is seeing his wife of thirty years in agonizing pain and not be-ing able to do anything to help her. He has worked hard all his life in manual labor but he is no longer able to work due to his painful ailments. They have tried to get help but don’t qualify for aid or resources. I in-quired about suicide and he said he and his wife talk about it sometimes. His wife has asked him to shoot her and then shoot himself. He has a gun but says he doesn’t think he could bring himself to shoot the person he loves the most. He said that he and his wife don’t want to die; they just don’t know how to keep going without any help. The Crisis Center con-tinues to follow up and provide support to this couple.

Feature Story by Perry Peace