10-16-1990 - Laserfiche WebLink

Comm. Minutes--October 16, 1990 553 20. 21. 22. 23. EXTENSION SERVICE, County fundin~ and office space to be discussed Mr. Wieland reported that he and Commissioner Eckert will meet with officials of North Dakota State University on October 31 at 8:30 a,m. to discuss issues of State vs. County employees and office space. UNITED WAY, Personnel Department shouldn't require employees to attend meetings, accordin~ to States Attorney States Attorney Robert Hoy expressed concern about a memo from the Personnel Department saying all county employees were required to attend a presentation by United Way last week and complete a pledge card even if they didn't want to contribute. Mr. Hoy said he has nothing against United Way or any other charity, but he thinks it wasn't handled properly by the Personnel Department. He suggested that the Commission address this before it becomes a bigger prob}em. Mr. Shannon asked the liaison commissioners, Wie]and and Toussaint, to investigate this procedure. CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT UNIT, Cooperative a~reement Title IV-D of the Social Security Act is a federal act which provides for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and requires states to implement some sort of process for collecting child support from non-custodial parents whose children are receiving AFDC, according to States Attorney Robert Hoy. He said the State legislature put the State Department of Human Services in charge of the IV-D program, and county social service boards are charged by statute with the responsibility of administering that program at the local level. County social service boards are generally doing this on a regional ]eve]. Mr. Hoy said the federal government requires a cooperative agreement between all parties to be sure they comply with federal regulations. Existing agreements have to be re-written and re-executed. The State Child Support Unit revised the contract and asked counties to sign it by October 1st. Counties think the contract is one-sided because it puts the State in total control of everything in the Child Support Unit but has counties paying the bill in most cases. He said very few contracts were signed by October 1. Mr. Hoy said counties stand to lose a considerable amount of money. The State is threatening to stop sending the three largest regions their November draft of funds because counties are not agreeing to their contract. Bonnie Johnson said this amount varies from $15,OO0 to $20,000 a month which the State advances to this region. Mr. Hoy said the States Attorney's Association met with John Graham of the North Dakota Human Services Department and with officials of the State Child Support Unit in Bismarck, but an agreement between all parties has not been reached. Mr. Hoy said he wi]] try to keep the Commission advised of the county's legal options. NORTH DAKOTA ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES, Mission Statement Mr. Wieland read the following mission statement adopted at a recent meeting of the North Dakota Association of Counties Future's Committee: "The North Dakota Association of Counties shall provide leadership for change to assure fair, effective, efficient government through education and training, communication, and a strong unified legislative effort for the good of a]l counties."