Travis County Commissioners Court
January 24, 2012 (Agenda)
Item 24
>> 24, consider and take appropriate action on request from Travis County health and human services to provide materials to the participants of specific family support services, a, calendars, b, cleaning and personal hygiene products.
whether the Commissioners court supports spending public fund on this item or not.
miss fleming.
>> good morning, sherri fleming, county executive for health and human services and veteran service.
these items are used by our social workers in their day to day client activity.
social work is a profession whereby we work with clients to help them to help themselves.co oftentimes they call for assistance and support.
so that you remember to -- to make sure that certain activities occur either for yourself or for your children, and we see it as a needed necessity or a necessary item to be able to hand the client --
>> [one moment, please, for change in captioners] social work is a profession that we identify the client's benefit and we do what we can to empower them to make changes in their -- in themselves and in their living situations.
we believe these items are von to our work.
to our work.
these are considered tools in our tool box and there are a variety of things that I'm sure would appear to be unconventional in terms of the work of county staff, but I can assure you that social work is a profession of capacity building with individuals and teaching and modeling behaviors that we know that our clients want to develop to be successful.
>> move approval.
>> second.
>> we believe that if we were to tell these individuals you need these items, go and get them, they wouldn't be able to do it.
>> in many cases that's true.
we believe in striking while the iron is hot an it's important to provide information and tools at the time that we have clients in our programs.
>> and about how much do we spend on these items annually?
>> I'm afraid I don't have that number, but I believe it to be a very small amount.
we're talking about a very modest pocket calendar that we are able to purchase through the county's office supply contracts.
so you know that we yes or noily pay 35 -- that we generally pay 35 to 40 percent of retail value on items that we purchase through our provider.
I can get you that information through email later today, but I do believe it to be a modest action.
>> backup says $7,500 maximum per division.
how many divisions do you have ready your control?
>> I have seven divisions, five of which are actual direct service.
the other two would be considered administrative.
>> we've been doing this how long?
>> every year since I've been at the department for sure.
and probably longer than that.
>> too long?
>> no, sir.
everything we do for our community is important.
>> any more discussion on the motion?
all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
thank you very much.
The Closed Caption log for this Commissioners Court agenda item is provided by Travis County Internet Services. Since this file is derived from the Closed Captions created during live cablecasts, there are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. This Closed Caption log is not an official record the Commissioners Court Meeting and cannot be relied on for official purposes. For official records please contact the County Clerk at (512) 854-4722.
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