Pennsylvania County News

May/June 2012

THE VOICE OF PENNSYLVANIA’S COUNTIES

INSIDE: HUMAN SERVICES

HOT TOPIC FOR PENNSYLVANIA COUNTIES Chester County Launches New Application and Local Government Award Winners Inside: Cyber Security and Counties

Managing equity, fixed and balanced portfolios for institutional investors C.S. McKee, L.P. One Gateway Center Pittsburgh, PA 15222 412/566-1234 2

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May/June 2012

County News

COUNTY NEWS

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a four-time national award winning publication of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania

FEATURES

IN EVERY ISSUE

Serving All Who Served: The Veterans Foundation

12 There’s a new game in town

BY SANDRA RHODES

President’s Commentary All about counties

BY JO ELLEN LITZ

Former Lycoming Planning Director Receives National Honor 14 Jerry Walls inducted into College of Fellows CCAP Honors Outstanding Jail and Juvenile Detention Center Efforts 15 2012 award winners announced Protecting Pennsylvania’s Air and Land

DEP answers the call for service

BY MIKE KRANCER 2012 CCAP Annual Conference Plan to attend this outstanding educational event

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NACo News

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Risk Management Perspectives Privatization: Controlling the risk

BY JOHN SALLADE, CRM

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2012 Executive Committee President

Jo Ellen Litz Lebanon County Christian Leinbach Berks County Pamela Snyder Greene County Joseph Kantz Snyder County Mark Hamilton Tioga County

First Vice-President

Professional Development KEYS: Leadership strategies for challenging times

BY DENISE S. SCHLEGEL

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Questions and Answers Questions from you!

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Focused on Counties Chester County community profiles

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Second Vice President

Treasurer

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Legal Brief 54 Electronic Communications and websites

BY ANNE DAVIES NEWMAN From the Street CCAP Calendar

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BOD Chair

2012 Editorial Board Douglas E. Hill

Executive Director

Lori D. Dabbondanza

Executive Director, PACDAA

Michele Denk

Director of Member and Vendor Relations

Mandi Glantz

Insurance Technology Specialist

John Feather

Claims Manager

Dave Harman

Employee Benefits Programs Manager

Julia Jackson Lauren Kenes

Property and Casualty Associate

Brinda Carroll Penyak

Deputy Director

Executive Director, MH/MR

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Kristen Rotz

Executive Director, JDCAP

Wayne Bear

Insurance Training Director

Linda Rosito John Sallade

Managing Director Insurance Programs

Chuck Songer

Executive Director, PCYA

Karen Sweigard

Director of Education and Communications

Arts and Culture: A Tool for County Redevelopment

38 Arts and culture as an economic driver

BY LORI FRUSH SCHMELZ

How the Nation’s Counties Stack Up

NACo’s 2012 Operations Survey

Mandi E. Glantz

Advertising Sales

The Route to Improved County Services

34 How counties deal with lagging resources

BY BEVERLY A. CIGLER, Ph.D.

Cyber Security and Your County What counties need to know

BY WILLIAM PELGRIN

Debra S. Tingley, APR

Editor

Executive Secretary

16th Annual Governor’s Awards for Local Government Excellence 20 Counties and leaders are honored Hot Topics in Human Services Topics affecting service areas

By CCAP POLICY TEAM

Douglas E. Hill Executive Director

Publisher

Debra S. Tingley, APR

Director of Communications Administrative Assistant/Receptionist Executive Director, PACHSA

Property and Casualty Programs Associate

ON THE COVER: Human services continues to be a focal point for county governments as they struggle to find new ways to keep crucial service programs viable.

Janet Wilhelm Kelly Andrisano Tona Faust

CCAP Office Locations: Central Office 17 North Front St., Harrisburg, PA 17101-1624 (717) 232-7554 North Office PO Box 60769, Harrisburg, PA 17106-0769 (717) 526-1010 FOR ADVERTISING Mandi E. Glantz (717) 526-1010

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May/June 2012

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President’s Commentary All About Counties

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Jo Ellen Litz

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y first experience as your state association president took place in January at a state president’s training held by NACo in Washington, D.C. We attended a White House briefing where 38 states were represented. Talking with colleagues, referencing the NACo website, and searching the Web, including Wikipedia, helped to put together an overview of county differences and similarities.

Of the counties that existed in 1634, formerly called shires, the first county was organized in Virginia. Pennsylvania and New York legislatures were the first to assign extensive duties to their counties.

Forty-eight of 50 states have counties or their equivalents, 3143 all total, in the United States. The exceptions are Louisiana, which uses parishes, and Alaska uses boroughs as forms of government. County duties assigned by states vary widely. For example, in Pennsylvania, school districts are separate entities, but in Maryland, counties also handle public education.

Further, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island do not have county governments. In addition, state or county law may establish numerous independent boards and authorities to administer various county-level programs such as health, hospitals, housing, landfills, transit, parks and libraries.

In Pennsylvania, we govern by county commissioners, county councils and county executives. Across the country, county governing bodies also incorporate boards of supervisors and county freeholders. Another similarity is that Pennsylvania and most U.S. counties’ powers include administrative—hiring employees; legislative—ordinances and quasi-judicial—assessment appeals. However, there are counties that are lines on a map without any powers—Connecticut and parts of Massachusetts. Most counties also have equivalents of row officers to issue and protect important documents such as marriage licenses and deeds.

Average statistics are interesting. Generally, the middle and eastern states have more counties than the western states. Sixty-two counties are located in the average state, but Texas weighs in with 254 counties.

With 67 counties, Pennsylvania seems normal. On the other end of the spectrum is Delaware with three counties. When it comes to county population, Los Angeles County, California has almost 10 million residents, and Loving County, Texas has the fewest residents, 82. The average county population range is 100,000 or 82 people per square mile or 640 acres. I can’t help but notice that my home county, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, is pretty darn average.

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Over 2000 county names originate from famous people and political figures.

Named after Presidents George and Thomas, Washington County can be found in 31 states; and Jefferson County in 27 states.

In other states, county sheriffs may have a police function, but in Pennsylvania they have limited arrest powers and so they typically do not act like police departments, their duties instead being primarily for service of process and prisoner transport. Most counties are responsible for short-term incarceration. In many states, counties responsibilities end with pre-trial and pre-sentencing detention, with prisoners held in state prisons post-sentencing.

Counties are fortunate to have CCAP and NACo to help navigate the sea of changes and mandates coming our way that will impact both our citizens and our budgets.

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Your advertisement could be right here reaching thousands of county officials!

NACo Offers Wealth of Information

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id you know that the National Association of Counties (NACo) publishes many interesting survey and research publications that offer insight into trends and other areas of interest to counties?

These reports are available free of charge to member counties.

Most of the publications can be found on NACo’s website at www.naco.org.

Some recent survey topics include infrastructure and the economy, an operations survey that looks at county government operations in the areas of county administration, health and human services, economic development, environment, and justice and public safety.

In early October 2011, NACo conducted an economic status survey of counties of all population groups. This was the sixth survey in a series of twice yearly efforts by NACo to try to capture information about counties as they struggle with the current fiscal situation. This survey report showed counties are continuing to make difficult choices and are still scaling back or deferring certain activities to help them through their current fiscal year. Counties are still finding themselves laying off employees and working smarter and more efficiently to provide their services with fewer employees. Local economies affecting county governments continue to struggle toward recovery. As this slowdown drags on, counties have made increasingly more severe – or long term in nature – budget adjustments to try to adopt balanced budgets and still maintain mandated service deliveries. As a result, counties appear to be settling into the ‘new normal’ of revenue, staffing and service delivery levels.

Here’s an excerpt of the findings from the survey: •

County Budgets – Only 35 percent of responding counties report that they adopted balanced budgets this fiscal year with no anticipated shortfalls

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64 percent of responding counties report adopting budgets with shortfalls of less than $100,000

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Seven counties report shortfalls of $25 million or more

To find out more about advertising, and to learn about our 2012 editorial calendar, visit our website at www.pacounties.org.

County News is also accepting articles for publication. If you want to submit an article idea, please go to our website at www.pacounties.org.

Click on “Programs/Services” and “Publications” in the top navigation bar.

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If you are in need of information, please remember the amount of valuable survey data that can be found on NACo’s website.

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May/June 2012

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RISKMANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVES

Privatization Controlling the Risk?

By John R. Sallade, CRM Managing Director, Insurance Programs, CCAP

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s budgets tighten, prudent county managers are looking at ways to save costs and still provide essential services. One consideration often examined is privatizing one or more county services or operations.

Privatization or outsourcing is the practice of moving internal operations to external vendors to achieve a number of financial and strategic benefits. If your county is contemplating outsourcing or privatization of services, it is important to consider both sides of the equation. Removing the county from providing a service does not necessarily remove the county from risk.

One example is the outsourcing of IT services. It is estimated companies and government have saved between 15 to 40 percent with off-shore outsourced IT, but breached data privacy and fraud scandals abound. There has been a general push back from customers who seem to prefer technical services be provided by U.S. workers. With increasing emphasis

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May/June 2012

County News

RISKMANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVES on buying American, this has resulted in some companies seeing their outsourcing as a negative impact on their business.

Outsourced tasks can range from employee benefits management to IT application research. Privatization is not new, or even recent. Counties and companies have been outsourcing functions such as legal counsel or automated payroll check cutting for years. The primary benefits sought from outsourcing include: Cost Savings Primarily due to inexpensive, experienced off-shore labor pools, lower off-shore infrastructure costs and the reduction of a domestic workforce. Avoidance of high capital investments to manufacture or develop certain components, parts, applications and systems sourced from outside vendors.

Specialized knowledge or capabilities Vendors may have specialized knowledge or expertise that can shorten cycles, improve outcomes or provide a competitive advantage.

But once your work processes have left the building, your exposure to both financial and strategic risk escalates, particularly, but not exclusively, in the IT arena. In the private sector this may mean outsourcing complex manufacturing projects. In the public sector it can include complex financial data processing. Any disruptions or breaches along the way can bring projects grinding to a halt, jeopardize time lines, reputations and funding. Costly operational/business continuity risks arise from a vendor’s failure to perform or deliver outcomes on contractual obligations, as well as technology errors and omissions.

Business interruption due to viruses, malicious code, and incompatible or destructive third-party systems that compromise the client’s or a third-party’s applications or networks is another source of expo-

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sure. Crippling strategic risks incurred include intellectual property infringement, disclosure of confidential information, and network and privacy extortion or theft.

While privatization risks are serious, there are several ways to mitigate these risks and protect your county. It is important to remember that when you outsource a function, you can not outsource responsibility or liability. Dedicated vendor management, a strong contract, contingency plans and proper insurance are the tools counties can employ to construct an outsourcing relationship yielding important cost and competitive advantages.

It is essential the specifics and work process are detailed by the county before outsourcing the process. Think of this as hiring an employee – you would not do this without a good job description explaining what the employee will be doing.

When selecting a vendor to outsource a county function, there needs to be a similar documentation of the work to be done and how it needs to be done. This will then eventually find its way into your contract with the vendor.

In addition, documentation and benchmarks will protect the county against internal knowledge loss on these processes in the event of a vendor business interruption or breach. With proper documentation the process can be brought back in-house or quickly transferred to a back up vendor if necessary.

When selecting a vendor, the county needs to perform rigorous due diligence and research the vendor’s capabilities and capacity. The county needs to ensure adequate client protection is available prior to developing a contract with the vendor.

Check references, vendor internal operating polices, and staff turnover to assess risks to contract performance or regulatory compliance.

The contract with the vendor needs to be

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County News

structured to both serve and protect the county with clear definitions of the vendor services provided, performance standards, and specific pricing. Incorporate a risk manager’s or your insurance producer’s suggestions on vendor insurance requirements into the contract language. If critical vendors can not meet insurance and indemnification requirements, counties should consult their insurance producer to review vendor insurance programs.

It is possible that vendor professional liability insurance may be inadequate or non-existent, exposing your county unnecessarily. Enhanced Professional Liability programs can provide terms to address network security, software copyright coverage and adding the county to the vendor’s policy as an additional insured.

Consult with your insurance producer on options for a contract-specific insurance policy when necessary. This can be particularly helpful when you have one specialized vendor who the county really wants to use, but they cannot provide the insurance coverage to protect the county.

This also can be helpful if the vendor will not agree to indemnify the county in the contract.

Finally, make sure you quantify expected cost savings and communicate these to your vendor. Specify standards, expected controls and measurements which will be used to evaluate contract performance.

Institute periodic performance monitoring and vendor reviews and incorporate the right to audit the process as part of the service agreement.

Note: This article is not intended to be legal advice, and the author is not an attorney. Counties are encouraged to review the matters included in this article with their solicitors and the county’s insurance producer.

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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

KEYS: Leadership Strategies for Challenging Times Finding ways to continue effective operations in your county during these difficult economic times is but one challenge facing county officials. But it is an important one. Luckily, the KEYS workshops might hold some of the answers.

By Denise S. Schlegel, DS Schlegel & Associates

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www.pacounties.org

May/June 2012

County News

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s we all know, today is a challenging time to be an elected official or a public service manager. Deficits abound and tough choices need to be made. How to make those choices and what course of action should be considered to create a workable environment, a responsible budget, to establish core services and select priorities, needs to be explored.

In May, the KEYS Workshop “Leadership Strategies for Challenging Times” will share possible approaches and best practices to help stimulate new ideas for meeting these difficult management issues.

This workshop will provide five overarching strategies for defining key planning components to help develop leadership strengths, determine core services and asset based planning tools.

The most important resource you have at your fingertips is your human capital.

STRATEGY ONE WILL LEAD YOU TO FOCUS ON “PEOPLE” The importance of the people around you has been a well-known fact for decades, but it is more critical than ever to find new ways to engage your people in learning, to develop transformation leadership skills within your ranks and to instill strategic thinking with your administration. These skills will stimulate new ideas, new ap-

proaches and a fresh approach to dealing with the issues at hand.

STRATEGY TWO FOCUSES ON “PLACES” What offices, services, community nonprofits, partners, etc. are available within your county and surrounding communities who can work with you to brainstorm answers to today’s challenges. What process or approach can be used to reach out to the community?

Assessment is a long-standing process for building budgets, but asset-based planning is more critical than ever. Has your county or department completed an assessment of mandated versus discretionary funding programs? Do you understand your true grant staffing commitment and in-kind costs? What would happen if all of your grants were cancelled at the same time?

Have you determined your county core values, principles or services?

STRATEGY THREE WILL FOCUS ON “THINGS” This includes the development of new guiding principles, identification of core values and also takes a look at best practices and models developed by other counties and municipalities across the country. The instructor will explore the

SOAR approach to strategic planning with works from an asset perspective rather than weakness or threat mentality.

STRATEGY FOUR WILL EXPLORE METHODS AND PROCESSES TO DETERMINING YOUR “PRIORITIES” How can you develop priorities? Who can assist with this process? What can you really accomplish and when and how can you say “NO!” STRATEGY FIVE WILL EXPLORE “POSITIVE APPROACHES” This strategy will provide information on dealing with your internal groups, community partners and creating positive meetings. Each participant will leave with a resource Toolkit CD which provides tools, research, best practices and other informational articles to utilize when you return to your office.

Some communities have found remedies for the process of planning in a challenging economy and hard times. Some still need to address the issues.

Please join us for one of the Keys Workshops for an idea-inspired day. Come explore the approaches other communities have harnessed to help them ride this tide of challenges. See you at “Leadership Strategies for Challenging Times.”

Has your county or department completed an assessment of mandated versus discretionary funding programs? Do you understand your true grant staffing commitment and in-kind costs? What would happen if all of your grants were cancelled at the same time? www.pacounties.org

May/June 2012

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Serving All Who Served

Veterans Foundation

By Sandra Rhodes

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ne definition of soldier is someone who is dedicated to a cause.

For Brigadier Gen. (Pa.) Michael Gould that notion has extended far beyond his tenure in the U.S. Army and has inspired him to create a new Pennsylvania Veterans Foundation, a private, non-profit charitable organization that specifically supports veterans and their families in Pennsylvania.

Gould, who serves as deputy adjutant general for the Pennsylvania Office of Veterans’ Affairs, came up with the idea when he looked beyond the borders of Pennsylvania to see what other states are doing. “You just can’t get there on government dollars alone, especially in these fiscal times,” he said. “The private sector needs to be a part of the solution.

Pennsylvania is way behind in this regard.

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Several states use public-private coalitions to pool the necessary resources to attack these types of social issues.” Veterans Affairs receives about three million dollars to take care of close to one million veterans in Pennsylvania.

Gould, a native of McKean County, said there are countless number of veterans’ issues that need addressed. There are 2,000 to 3,000 veterans homeless in Pennsylvania, about 10 percent are unemployed and 25 percent make less than $22,000 a year.

Others suffer from post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries. The veteran population is also aging – there are more than 600,000 that are 62 and over.

Gould’s goal is to raise money that will allow the Foundation to grant money to the “multiple non-profit organizations that are already assisting veterans and their families, yet need more resources to touch

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County News

more.” The Foundation will also help with a veteran or veteran’s family that needs immediate emergency help.

Two county directors of veterans’ affairs welcome the added help a Foundation like this one can render.

“I think like all veterans across the nation, these are some that stand out. Employment, medical and emergency funds to get through the problems that might arise,” said Matt Windsor, who helps the 4,500 to 5,000 veterans in McKean County.

Windsor added that the Foundation would help veterans with issues that the state or federal governments can’t. He also said that his office, funded through the McKean county commissioners, has not been affected by lack of funding. “They have done a great job with making sure that the county veterans are a priority.”

To the west, Warren County has an emergency fund for Warren County veterans handled through the Warren County Veterans Council. “Our emergency fund has helped with food, heat, and on occasion rent to keep veterans and their families from being thrown out after they lost their job,” said Ed Burris, who serves on the board of the Pennsylvania Veterans Foundation. On a state level, Burris said a foundation like this will be great to help organizations get the funding they need.

“Many organizations and private citizens have great ideas on how to help veterans and their families but cannot find funding.

This could provide that funding if it was felt that they have the right plans,” he said.

“If we only help one person at a time, for that one person, we have made a difference. If we can help someone who wants to help a specific group of veterans then we have a made a difference to many.

“Sometimes people need to sit back and think what their lives would be like if it were not for the veterans that we are now helping, if they had not went the extra mile for us, would we still be the country that we are today and would we have the freedoms to even write this story.”

Both state Senator Joe Scarnati, R-Brockway, and Representative Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint, hear issues pertaining to veterans and welcome such a foundation to further assist in veterans’ programs.

“My office assists a large number of constituents in handling veterans’ issues so I am very familiar with the struggles that so many of our country’s heroes face on a daily basis,” Scarnati said. “I believe the Pennsylvania Veterans Foundation being established by the Department of Veterans Affairs creates a win-win situation for our veterans and Pennsylvania taxpayers and I am hopeful the program can serve as a model for other organizations throughout the commonwealth.” Causer agreed, not-

ing that anything that enhances programs for veterans is a good thing. “I see this as very beneficial,” he said. “I don’t want to see veterans’ issues reduced.”

The fact that the Foundation was established on 11/11/11 is no coincidence. It is Veterans Day, after all.

The Foundation recently received its IRS tax-exempt status. This means the organizers will be launching an informational campaign and outreach to gain support.

They have already gained the support of the Eldred American Legion Post 887, which held a craft show with the proceeds donated to the Foundation. Once set up, the Foundation will also like to help with educational purposes, too, such as supporting the Eldred WWII Museum.

“Yes, this Foundation will make a difference whether one person at a time, a hundred or possibly a thousand. There are almost a million veterans in Pennsylvania and with the right support this Foundation can and will do great things,” Burris said.

And people throughout the state are getting excited about this initiative.

“Estimates are now that only one percent of our U.S. population has ever worn a uniform. Many people want to help and pay back, but someone has to be on point advocating for them. I take that role very seriously,” Gould said. “(They) are just waiting to launch activities and spread the word,” Gould said.

“Veterans’ organizations, like the VFW, know this could change the face of support for veterans in Pennsylvania if it is successful – and it will be.”

For more information on the Pennsylvania Veterans Foundation or to make a donation, go to www.paveteransfoundation.org.

“If we can help someone who wants to help a specific group of veterans then we have a made a difference to many.” www.pacounties.org

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Former Lycoming County Planning Director Receives National Honor from American Institute of Certified Planners Named to Prestigious College of Fellows

Jerry Walls

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he American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) inducted Jerry Walls, FAICP, of Montoursville and former Lycoming County planning director into the elite membership of AICP’s College of Fellows April 15 at a black-tie ceremony held in conjunction with the American Planning Association’s (APA) National Planning Conference in Los Angeles.

“The AICP College of Fellows recognizes individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the planning profession and their own communities,” said AICP President Anna Breinich, AICP. “The Fellows have devoted their careers to excellence in planning. They continue to set the bar for professional planners today,” she added.

Planning director for Lycoming County for more than three decades, Jerry Walls’ leadership, vision and technical skills 14

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were used to address issues as diverse as greenways planning, solid waste management, infrastructure development and emergency management planning. His many accomplishments were the result of most valuable skills—following through, building consensus, fostering meaningful public involvement and forging partnerships. Walls, who continues to work as a consultant and volunteer, was named an AICP Fellow for his achievements in professional practice. He is a graduate of Wayne State University.

Every two years a new class of AICP Fellows is honored in recognition of outstanding achievements by individual planners in one of four categories: professional practice, research, teaching and mentoring or community service and leadership.

Currently there are about 15,000 practicing urban and rural planners in North America and elsewhere with AICP May/June 2012

County News

certification. Of those, approximately 450 belong to the AICP College of Fellows.

The AICP College of Fellows, begun in 1999, is concerned with mentoring and future advancement of the profession of planning. For more than 80 years, AICP has promoted professional excellence in the field of planning by setting high standards for competence, education, experience, and ethical conduct, and by articulating the future of the planning profession.

The American Planning Association is an independent, not-for-profit educational organization that provides leadership in the development of vital communities.

APA and its professional institute, the American Institute of Certified Planners, are dedicated to advancing the art, science and profession of good planning -- physical, economic and social -- so as to create communities that offer better choices for where and how people work and live.

Annual Award Competition COUNTY JAIL BEST PRACTICES AWARD PROGRAM FOR COUNTIES Honoring Excellence in County Government Jail Programming

S O L U T I O N S

21st Century

CCAP Honors Outstanding Jail and Juvenile Detention Center Efforts

Awards recognize county jail and juvenile detention center practices offering exceptional programming

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he County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP) recently bestowed honors upon several Pennsylvania county jails and three juvenile detention centers along with leaders from both who oversee their operations during its Spring Conference at the Hilton Harrisburg. The awards are presented to county jails and juvenile detention centers who have implemented best practices and exemplary programming. CCAP also presented its first-ever Partner Award.

A County Criminal Justice System for the 21st Century Best Practices Award for 2012 in the large county category was given to Berks County for its Community Re-entry Center project. A Best Practices Award for 2012 in the small county category was presented to Lycoming County for its Lycoming County Criminal Justice System Best Practices Project. Now a three-time award winner, the Lycoming County project has been in consistent operation since 1974, and continues to produce positive results for the county, for the taxpayers, and for the inmates and their facilities.

CCAP also awarded an honorable mention in the large county jail category to Bucks County for its Forensics Re-entry Enhancement Program, and an honorable mention in the small county category to Clarion County for its Drug and Alcohol Treatment Court project.

In the Juvenile Detention Center and Shelter Facility category, CCAP selected Montgomery County as the winner of the large county award for its Weekend Accountability Program. The winner of the small county award was given to Dauphin County for its Community Connections Project. An honorable mention www.pacounties.org

was awarded to Bucks County in the large county class for its Child Accountability Program.

CCAP also presented its first-ever 21st Century Committee Criminal Justice Partners Award to Thresholds of Chester County, which was developed by a former prison inmate and is designed to improve literacy and improve the lives of detention center and shelter youth.

The winner of the PCCD CJAB Best Practice Award for 2012 was presented to Berks County. This award is given to a Criminal Justice Advisory Board (CJAB) who has demonstrated the adherence to best practices and successes. CCAP worked with the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) to identify the Criminal Justice Advisory Board Best Practice award. PCCD has regional representatives who work with counties to assist them in forming, organizing and getting the most from criminal justice advisory boards. The regional representative from each region of the state made a recommendation and CCAP selected the winner.

A formal award presentation is planned for June 11 in State College.

Each entrant was required to describe how its county project maintains best practices for keeping populations down, assuring better recidivism rates, improving collaboration with the community and assisting inmates with their re-entry to society.

Juvenile detention shelters/centers awards are designed to showcase the efforts of the men and women working each day to change the life of a child.

According to Scott Martin, Lancaster County commissioner and chair of the May/June 2012

County News

CCAP Committee on County Criminal Justice System Best Practices for the 21st Century who administers the awards for CCAP, “These awards play an extremely valuable and important role in promoting best practices of county jails and juvenile detention centers and in helping the counties to find alternatives to the costly solutions of building new jails. We salute the efforts of these counties in being innovative pioneers in meeting the challenges that all county jails and juvenile detention centers are facing as costs increase. We hope other counties will follow these examples and bring these solutions or others to their counties.�

Martin said CCAP undertook a Pennsylvania Prison Overcrowding Project in 2001 in response to concerns raised by its Courts and Corrections Committee about jail crowding and construction costs.

CCAP reconvened its Prison Overcrowding Task Force and charged it to devise a strategy to assist in the alleviation of crowding problems and the costs associated with jail construction.

The Association contracted with Dr. Alan Harland, professor in the Criminal Justice department of Temple University, to design and conduct a statewide survey of all county-operated prison facilities to document the extent and magnitude of the problem. In 2004, CCAP was awarded a grant from the National Institute of Justice to defray the cost of the work on the overcrowding project. Then U.S. Senator Arlen Specter made the grant available by virtue of a Congressionally Directed Award placed in the 2003 federal budget.

For more information on the county awards, visit the CCAP website at www. pacounities.org.

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Protecting Pennsylvania’s Air and Land DEP Answers the Call for Service and Efficiency

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ur mission at the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is to protect Pennsylvania’s air, land and water, and that is exactly what we are doing. We are guided in this mission by facts and science, not emotion, fiction or hysteria. We have also heeded the Governor’s call to bring reform, restraint and responsibility to state government, as well as efficiency and an attitude of customer service.

By Mike Krancer DEP Secretary 16

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So we are delighted by the Governor’s budget proposal, which delivers on reform, restraint and responsibility. No government has or ever will tax its way out of a recession. This is especially true in Pennsylvania, where the non-partisan Tax Foundation just reported that the state May/June 2012

County News

tax environment this administration inherited was ranked at or near the most stifling in the entire nation.

DEP is on the forefront of living the values of reform, restraint and responsibility. We know that county governments do the very same thing and in all respects, we partner with local government to stay on mission.

We have many important decisions to make as Americans today. America competes with the world in a global economy.

Right now, we need to do better in that competition because a lot is riding on the outcome. I reject as a false dichotomy the so-called “choice” between developing domestic energy sources and environmen-

tal protection. All you have to do is ask three questions to which the answers are self-evident: 1. Do we need energy in America?

2. Do we have sources of energy here in the United States and in Pennsylvania?

3. Who can develop our domestic sources of energy in a more environmentally sensitive and protective way than we can as Americans?

We in Pennsylvania have been overseeing oil and natural gas extraction in an environmentally sound manner for a very long time. We know our own state best. From there, we have to ask this question: Can we afford to be guided by an emotional, ideologically driven “just say no” hostile approach to every avenue we have in order to become more self-reliant on our own domestic sources of energy? Of course, the answer is no.

It is a truism of economics that capital is both limited and mobile. In both the public and private sectors, there is a competition for cash and resources, which are attracted by innovation and opportunity. Washington County saw the third highest gain in jobs in 2010 and Williamsport, Lycoming County, was the seventh fastest growing city, thanks in large part to the development of Marcellus Shale. This resource—a domestic, abundant, clean and inexpensive fuel—can revolutionize our domestic economy and provide real benefits to the environment and public health. We are already seeing tangible economic results.

Jobs are being created, and utility after

utility are announcing lower electricity prices and gas prices for consumers. The downstream feedstock implications are enormous.

Ethane, a liquid component of natural gas, can be processed into ethylene, which is a key commodity feedstock to a huge diversity of everyday products ranging from plastic bags to medical supplies. For the first time in our lifetime as Americans and Pennsylvanians, with this ethylene potential from natural gas, we stand today with the opportunity to have a true cost advantage over the world for the production of any commodity.

State government should be an asset and a resource to all our citizens and its citizens’ local governments. We at DEP are committed to nothing less than a full spirit of cooperation, communication and innovation with our local governments. Together, guided by the right principles and guided by facts, we can attract more economic activity and protect our natural resources at the same time.

DEP has not been bashful in speaking for our citizens and our local governments. It is no secret that local governments have all too often been asked to carry the burden of significant federal EPA regulations, some of which were not supported by facts and science. One example is the federal stormwater regulations. DEP insisted that county governments have the flexibility to make decisions based on local conditions and to make sure the final regulations were reasonable and science-based. We also fought for, and received, an agreement for

an extension of the deadline for counties to submit their stormwater management plans. We will continue to speak up.

Local outreach and involvement are also crucial values for DEP in our relationships with citizens and local governments. A case in point is our commitment to protect and improve the quality of the Chesapeake Bay. We have worked together with local governments and others to communicate the essential parts of the Chesapeake Bay program. As we have said many times, we must always be mindful that this effort has to be guided by sound science and facts and must not lose sight of an overall cost/ benefit framework. We have held eight workshops and countless meetings with local governments to hear their concerns and comment.

We have numerous grass-roots level success stories that bring real value to people.

Here are just two examples. Last year, DEP gave a grant to the Clearfield County Area Agency on Aging so that, by converting its vans to cheaper and cleaner-burning natural gas, its Meals on Wheels program could continue. We also provided a $1 million grant to Butler County for a natural gas fueling station that will bolster the county’s public transportation. Recently passed Act 13, which CCAP supported, will provide further funding opportunities for counties to do important work.

County governments are vital to our ability to protect the environment and deliver service to our citizens. DEP looks forward to continuing to be an ally, a partner and a resource to you.

“This resource—a domestic, abundant, clean and inexpensive fuel—can revolutionize our domestic economy and provide real benefits to the environment and public health. We are already seeing tangible economic results.” www.pacounties.org

May/June 2012

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2012 CCAP Annual Conference

Counties to Meet in Hershey

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he County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania is pleased to be bringing its 2012 Annual Conference to the Hershey Lodge in Dauphin County this summer. The Annual Conference is CCAP’s premiere educational and networking conference. This year’s Conference will be held August 5 to 8 and features many educational sessions, an extensive exhibit hall and great speakers. The theme for the Conference is 126 Years of “Rock” Solid Education Keeping County Government Officials “Rollin!”

In addition to the Annual Conference’s usual agenda of education, business and fun, you will find a number of exciting special events designed to honor the best in county government programming. The Conference is CCAP’s major educational conference and trade show!

Conference Schedule The Conference officially kicks off on Sunday evening with the CCAP Rock ‘n’ Roll reception in the Exhibit Hall. All registered Conference attendees will have a chance to meet with over 80 vendors interested in working with counties and who will also display products and services of interest to counties.

Monday morning’s Opening General Session features attorney Stuart Brody, from Integrity Intensive. Mr. Brody is a well-known and highly respected speaker on the topics of ethics and integrity and has been a featured speaker at many county events nationwide. Brody has been active in politics, government and business for over thirty years. He also serves as a consultant for innovative businesses including clean tech and renewable energy companies and as a lawyer, has 30 years of experience advising management on employment and compliance issues. He has advised candidates for president of the United States as well as statewide political leaders.

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Monday and Wednesday also feature important breakout sessions on timely topics important to county government. Check the CCAP website for a complete list of breakout session offerings and an updated Conference schedule. Plan now to attend the educational sessions that will most benefit you and your county. There are lots of sessions from which to choose.

Conference HIGHLIGHTS Other highlights of the Conference include an evening of great music and food hosted

by C.S. McKee LP on Monday evening.

Tuesday’s golf tournament is being hosted

by Mazzitti & Sullivan EAP Services, Inc., Cornerstone Advisors Asset Management, Inc. and Essential Manage-

ment Solutions, LLC, Tuesday’s sporting clays tournament is being hosted by Stone Ridge Investment Partners, LLC, BNY Mellon, PFM Advisors and Piper Jaffray Investment Bankers.

The Tuesday evening President’s Reception and Annual Banquet will also include the Annual Awards ceremony for the first time this year.

Conference Registration Conference registration materials have been mailed to all counties and can also be downloaded from the CCAP website, www.pacounties.org. Members can register for the Conference and make their room reservations by following the instructions on the website.

You will find great information and new products and you will be pleased with all you will learn! Rock ‘N’ Roll to county excellence at the CCAP Annual Conference.

May/June 2012

County News

Community Care Behavioral Health Organization, a nonprofit recovery-focused behavioral health managed care company, is a RESPONSIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE COMMUNITY PARTNER. Community Care’s approach to behavioral health managed care is grounded in public-sector commitment, recovery orientation, expert clinical competencies, and program/fiscal accountability. Our experience in Pennsylvania is deeply rooted in collaboration with local communities. This partnership has resulted in greater access, increased quality, and stabilization in funding built on individual community priorities.

Part of UPMC, Community Care supports Pennsylvania’s HealthChoices program by managing mental health and substance abuse services for Medical Assistance recipients in 36 counties throughout the Commonwealth.

A Pennsylvania-based, owned, and operated company, Community Care has been awarded “full” accreditation (the highest level possible) by the National Committee for Quality Assurance. For more information, visit www.ccbh.com.

www.pacounties.org

May/June 2012

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16th Annual Governor’s Awards for Local Government Excellence Counties and County Leaders Honored

At left: Representatives of the Pennsylvania Wilds receive award from DCED Secretary C. Alan Walker (far right) and Fred Reddig, executive director of DCED Governor’s Center for Local Government Services (far left) during ceremonies in the state capitol.

Below: Potter County is honored for its watershed coalition. Paul Heimel, Potter County commissioner is on the far right.

Top right: Pamela Tokar-Ickes, Somerset County commissioner, is recognized for her years of pubic service

by Fred Reddig and DCED Secretary C. Alan Walker.

D

epartment of Community and Economic Development (DCED) Secretary C. Alan Walker, on behalf of Governor Tom Corbett, recently recognized local government officials and local organizations throughout Pennsylvania as part of the 16th Annual Governor’s Awards for Local Government Excellence.

Eight local government leaders and eight communities across the state received awards that were presented April 17 at the State Capitol building in Harrisburg The Triple Divide Watershed Coalition, Potter County, was recognized in the category of “Building Community Partnerships” for its work to improve water resources. The coalition is comprised of the county’s nine public water suppliers and numerous county agencies and organizations working collectively to identify efficiencies, lower operational costs and protect public drinking water resources. The coalition collaboratively developed the state’s first approved “source water protection plan” for all public water supplies in the county.

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Somerset County Commissioner Pam Tokar-Ickes received individual recognition, for her years of public service to the county and to the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP), where she has chaired the Human Services Committee for several years and has been a member for most of her tenure as a commissioner.

She knows all of the systems, and is an eloquent spokesperson on behalf of county positions and on behalf of the clients they serve. She is a consensus-builder with a long range and pragmatic view. TokarIckes is a longtime member of serving on its Human Services Committee. Currently, she is working on the Governor’s new block grant proposal with members of CCAP and the legislature to strengthen local communities.

The Pennsylvania Wilds Planning Team, a cross-disciplinary organization comprised of twelve adjoining counties in North Central Pennsylvania, was recognized in the category of “Building Community Partnerships” for its work in maintaining a multi-county partnership in the northern part of the state. The planning team worked with the commonwealth and other partners to grow its region’s nature and heritage tourism industry in order to create jobs, inspire stewardship, and improve the quality of life. The Pennsylvania Wilds includes Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk, Forest, Jefferson, Lycoming, McKean, Potter, Tioga and Warren counties.

The Governor’s Awards for Local Government Excellence are presented annually to communities and individuals www.pacounties.org

by the Governor’s Center for Local Government Services (GCLGS), an office within the DCED that works to assist Pennsylvania’s 2,562 local governments. A panel of judges from the GCLGS reviewed applications submitted by municipal organizations from across the state and selected the award recipients. The community awards cover ten categories, including: building community partnerships; promoting community and economic revitalization;

innovative community and governmental initiatives; fiscal accountability; innovative planning and sound land-use practices; intergovernmental cooperation; responding to adversity; innovative energy conservation; and innovative environmental partnerships.

For a full list of Governor’s Award for Local Government Excellence winners and a further description, visit www. newPA.com/lgawards.

Providing Balance Between Care and Profitability

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Toll Free 877-311-0110 www.affinityhealthservices.net May/June 2012

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Hot Topics in Human Services By the CCAP Policy Team

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n this article, the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP) policy team focuses on the topics affecting service areas that are, in some cases budget driven, but in other instances are derived from a need to find new ways to keep crucial service

programs viable. Not every area has a positive story. In fact, the future of county involvement in some areas of service delivery could be in question as downward pressures from state and federal resources continue.

The trends are consistent, however, and new ways of doing business are being considered at the federal, state and county levels. While we don’t have a crystal ball to allow us to predict with confidence what may be in store for the next few years, indications are that the financial trend isn’t likely to change any time soon.

CCAP continues to work very closely with policymakers to make innovative changes, including reduced regulatory burdens and better compliance and accountability models that value direct services more than administrative processes. In the meantime, counties should be aware of the trends and circumstances discussed here.

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“The challenges and realitie cutbacks have compounded they are compelled to make innovative ways to retain as managing against ever-incr

The provision of county human services programming is a duty that counties value as part of their mission on behalf of their communities. Quite often, the importance of services such as addictions’ treatment, mental health and intellectual disabilities services, a nursing home bed, child protective services, or the safety and security assured by a juvenile detention facility is not understood until a family finds itself needing assistance. As taxpayers and policymakers become more focused on reducing public expenditures, counties continue to find themselves between a rock and the proverbial hard place – shortchanged by funders at the same time their citizens are forced to turn to the county for help.

After nine years of budget cuts affecting numerous line items from which counties draw funding to provide critically needed care and support, a new proposal known as block grants, has been introduced. The block grants are designed to allow local cost savings as a result of improved efficiency, reduced duplication and increased flexibility to use resources where they are

most needed. The positive aspect of the block grant proposal has been complicated by an accompanying proposal to save state dollars through additional significant cuts.

The challenges and realities of budget cuts are well-known to counties. Such cutbacks have compounded over time and are pushing counties to the brink as they are compelled to make difficult local decisions. Counties continually seek innovative ways to retain as many direct services for families as possible while managing against ever-increasing budget pressures.

The Pennsylvania Children and Youth Administrators and CCAP are encouraged by a new sense of partnership and collaboration with Deputy Secretary for the Office of Children, Youth and Families within the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW) Beverly Mackereth. New to the department, but not new to state and county government, the deputy secretary has openly reached out to both associations, and promises to bring a positive approach to interactions between the state and counties future.

CHILD WELFARE SERVICES

Expect to see increased use of data indicators and benchmarks in the needs-based plan and budget process. Further, implementation of the federal “Fostering Connections” legislation, with its emphasis on kinship care, youth transitioning to adulthood, workforce development, adoption, health care and education for children in care, will bring changes to local practices.

Child welfare services are provided where ever there is a need, regardless of economic circumstances, so anything adding to the challenge will be felt quickly at the county level. While financial pressures have been at the forefront in recent years, including a disallowance of federal dollars that remains unresolved and a shift in the share of service costs that counties have been expected to bear, finding innovation is not always easy. Still, there are things to consider.

es of budget cuts are well-known to counties. Such d over time and are pushing counties to the brink as difficult local decisions. Counties continually seek s many direct services for families as possible while reasing budget pressures.”

The Pennsylvania Task Force on Child Protection created in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky allegations, is reviewing state laws and procedures governing child protection and the reporting of child abuse and will then release recommendations by the end of this year.

More counties are reviewing merit hire alternatives as it becomes more difficult to sustain an effective and efficient workforce in an atmosphere of constant crisis in the workplace, as well as in the field.

As counties cannot maintain the same

continued page 25 www.pacounties.org

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level or range of services with fewer federal and state dollars each year, service provisions may not exceed core services (e.g. those defined by statue and regulation) that will require more community engagement in assisting families. The Governor’s proposed budget for county children and youth proposes a decrease in funding from $1.408 billion in FY 20112012 to $1.397 billion for FY 2012-2013.

In the just received FY 2012-2013 tentative allocations from DPW, counties are seeing amounts three to ten percent below what the department requested through the needs-based plan and budget process.

Beyond the concerns surrounding the significant level of “county non-reimbursable” funds (although not as severe as in FY 2011-2012), which translates into an increased county match, and the need for details on how their special grants will be transitioned into the Human Services Development Fund (HSDF) Block Grant, counties are in an environment where they cannot continue “business as usual.”

SUBSTANCE ABUSE SERVICES The demand for substance abuse services has outpaced funding for the past ten years. Counties have been forced to find ways to manage scarce resources and still achieve positive outcomes for individuals and communities.

County governments are in the midst of a shift in philosophy that guides the provision of community prevention services and funding. The emerging trend is to

focus efforts on communities of highest need with the greatest potential for change. Decisions will be made based on data and inventories of community resources. All programs that are funded must be evidenced based or best practices, and outcomes must be in place and be measurable if public funds are to be expended.

The Department of Health, bureau of Drug and Alcohol Programs, has received a federal Strategic Prevention Enhancement Grant to develop strategies so that local programs have access to real time data.

Programs will also be able to tie programs and outcomes to funding to demonstrate value and impact.

To become better in assisting the mutual individuals they both serve, statewide, drug and alcohol programs are working more closely with their corrections and criminal justice programs. Both programs are working to use the same assessment tools and criteria for treatment decisions to assure treatment resources are targeted to those most in need for a length of time that is most effective.

Act 50 of 2010 established the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs and shifted the functions of the Department of Health to the newly-created department. The secretary of the newly-created department will make recommendations and drive policy decisions that impact substance abuse services funded through all state agencies and departments. The hope is that a cabinet level staff dedicated to substance abuse services will ensure that all state agencies are working toward the same

outcomes through the development of an overarching plan for the use of scarce public resources.

Strategic planning and the use of data and evidence-based practices must guide the decisions for substance abuse services if the system is to survive in the current fiscal environment.

PRESERVING PENNSYLVANIA’S NATIONAL MODEL FOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES, ENHANCING INTEGRATED CARE The behavioral HealthChoices program has been in existence for 15 years and has been deployed statewide for five years.

It is one of the most significant developments in behavioral health care (BH) in Pennsylvania history. The behavioral health care model in HealthChoices serves the state’s Medicaid-eligible population with a wellness model that promotes personal responsibility and accountability, resulting in long-term maintenance of health. During the history of this program, consumer access to services to promote recovery and self-sufficiency for individuals with mental health and/or substance abuse disorders has been expanded, quality goals have been met and exceeded and taxpayer savings have been achieved.

When appropriate services are not available, there are significant costs to society, including increased correctional and health care system costs. Individuals with serious mental illness live on average 25 years less than other people do. Mental continued next page

“The Governor’s proposed budget for county children and youth proposes a decrease in funding from $1.408 billion in FY 2011-2012 to $1.397 billion for FY 2012-2013.” www.pacounties.org

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illness and substance abuse result in lost productivity, higher medical expenditures and increased costs to communities for law enforcement. The program has also benefitted the commonwealth’s bottom line, resulting in savings of $4 billion dollars against continued growth projections in a fee for service system between 1997 and 2008.

Policymakers should focus on enhancing cooperation and eliminating barriers through means such as developing medical and health home models and platforms to facilitate sharing of information across health systems.

Counties can lead by serving as the nexus for building relationships locally with primary care providers and federally qualified health centers.

Previously the Medicaid funded behavioral health system was managed by physical health managed care organizations (PH MCOs). These PH MCOs managed the physical health benefit directly, and contracted management of the behavioral health benefit to a BH managed care vendor. Quality and access to behavioral health services suffered under this model.

Under the leadership of former Governor Tom Ridge’s administration and with the support of CCAP, the commonwealth began roll out of a carved-out behavioral health managed care system.

The current HealthChoices structure, which provides for county right of first opportunity, provides a single accountable entity at the local level to support building a unified system of care, common expectations for providers, common rates and transparency to users of services. By situating oversight of both HealthChoices funded services and base-funded services at the local level, a coordinated service plan is created for individuals to meet their needs. The HealthChoices structure also guarantees local stakeholder input into service development to address the unmet needs of people recovering from mental illness and addictive disease. The structure of the program assures a local presence in the BHMCO operations that results in a more personalized relationship, problem resolution and service enhancement.

Mental health and substance use consumers like HealthChoices because they are familiar with the program, and they have a personal connection with the providers who serve them.

Savings achieved, if the cost of providing services is less than the capitation payments, are reinvested in specialized community services based on local community needs, and this has resulted in the creation of private sector jobs at the local level. The ability to design the local service system has allowed the mental

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health, drug and alcohol, court system, district attorney’s office, public defenders, adult probation, and district justice offices to come together to divert, step down and actively treat individuals with behavioral health needs who are entrenched in the criminal justice system. HealthChoices administrative dollars also help cover medical assistance related expenses that counties and local taxpayers have historically incurred.

Local involvement has enabled the BHMCOs to better detect and respond to waste, fraud and abuse through localized and specific monitoring. Counties participating in the quality auditing process have been able to correct problems sooner and recoup treatment dollars not earned by a provider. Berks County initiated a fraud and abuse investigation with an outpatient mental health provider that resulted in $250,000 in retracted funds. Blair County also reports success collaborating with the BHMCO to recoup treatment dollars not earned by that provider and taking corrective actions that improved quality of care along with efficiency.

Monthly Medical Assistance data is made available to counties, and this data is used to make decisions and to identify issues and trends. The data is being used on a county and regional level to evaluate services, plan for future needs, monitor outcomes and to assist with strategic decision-making. Counties have been able to become more active in engaging in continuous quality improvement through relationships with BHMCOs, providers and consumers. This has been done by establishing structures that promote feedback from consumers and by implementing evidence-based practices. These processes address issues that need immediate attention, including finding services and resources in the community, advocating with the provider to improve services consumers are receiving and improving communications with the BHMCO. EVOLVING TOWARDS BETTER INTEGRATED CARE BETWEEN PHYSICAL HEALTH AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH Today the HealthChoices program’s greatest challenge is to continue to evolve and adapt to drive better coordination between

physical and behavioral health care. Integrating care can reduce costs by eliminating duplication and overlap, creating shared infrastructure and facilitating early intervention that can avoid the need for hospitalizations or other long term forms of care.

Those who advocate that integrated care can only take place under a carved-in financing model are wrong. According to Ron Manderscheid, executive director of the National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Directors who is an expert in the field of health care, “When it comes to distinguishing between integrated care and integrated financing, the key point is whatever financing method chosen, care itself can be integrated across behavioral and physical disorders. Thus, contrary to some thinking, integrated care can be undertaken even when financing for behavioral health services is carved out.”

In fact, prior to behavioral HealthChoices existing in Pennsylvania, when both behavioral and physical health financing was integrated, care was integrated in name only. Behavioral health was subcontracted out and not a truly integrated system. Dur-

ing this time of “integration,” treatment focused on episodic care rather than a less costly management of care with community supports.

Pennsylvania was selected to participate in a national program launched by the Center for Health Care Strategies called HealthChoices HealthConnections.

HealthConnections sought to test innovative care delivery models for consumers with behavioral and physical health needs.

The program was introduced by DPW to Pennsylvania’s southeast counties and MCOs (Bucks, Delaware, Montgomery counties, Keystone Mercy Health Plan and Magellan Behavioral Health), who accepted the challenge and created a partnership.

The goal was to find cost effective approaches to deliver quality care to individuals served by the Medical Assistance program. Wellness recovery teams were created consisting of both physical and behavioral health professionals. The teams were there to help individuals manage care and find the most appropriate level of care when needed. The teams were successful in being able reduce the overall cost of care for participants in the program.

Within the first five months of the HealthConnections program, there was a decrease in the use of physical health care services such as; Emergency Room, inpatient and specialist, all of which are significant health care cost drivers. There was a slight increase in behavioral health services due to effective navigation of the local health care system. The program shows that care was managed appropriately and efficiently. It identified a primary care physician for people in the program and connected them to behavioral health resources, which resulted in the most appropriate level of care. The overall cost savings was significant.

The HealthConnections program is a critical base to build upon, but it requires a mutual commitment of PH and BH resources. Policymakers should focus on enhancing cooperation and eliminating barriers through means such as developing medical and health home models and platforms to facilitate sharing of information across health systems. Counties can lead by serving as the nexus for building relationships locally with primary care providers and federally qualified health

continued next page

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“While the juvenile delinquent population referred to detention has decreased, so has the availability of resources. With the closure of six detention facilities over the past decade, there has been an increased need for counties to expand their referral base.�

centers. Integrated funding is not a prerequisite for successful integrated care.

NURSING HOMES The Governor’s proposed budget would reduce the payments made to nursing homes for the care of Medicaid residents by four percent. The proposal follows three years of one percent, one percent and zero percent increases, each of which was well under inflation needs, and so it compounds an already critical funding situation. A reduction of the magnitude proposed could lead to staff layoffs, outsourcing of departments, closing of units within the facility and other significant measures. This would lead to a greater contribution of local dollars to sustain the county nursing homes, which serve as the safety net facility in many geographic areas. In other topics, county nursing homes are eagerly awaiting the resolution of the Certified Public Expen28

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diture (CPE) process for this year, as the relief of the county share requirement for calendar year 2013 is at risk. For many years, the Intergovernmental Transfer and the CPE have been used as vehicles to pay for the costs of the county share requirement, which equals 10 percent of the non-federal costs of care for Medicaid residents in county nursing homes.

Negotiations between CCAP and DPW for use of available CPE dollars hope to be concluded before the end of the current fiscal year. In addition, the nursing home assessment program, which also generates additional federal dollars to help fund the payments to nursing homes, expires at the end of June 2012. It must be renewed by the legislature and approved by the federal government for the program to continue.

With the renewal Child welfare services are provided where ever there is a need, regardless of economic circumstances, so anything adding to the challenge these services will be felt quickly at the county May/June 2012

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level. process there is an opportunity for DPW to change the various funding formulas and that could affect how the funds are distributed to various types of nursing homes. This renewal process also needs to be concluded in the next few months so payments are not stopped. Finally, a task force has been established to help reduce and clarify the large numbers of events that are currently being reported to DOH by nursing homes. With the assistance of several of PACAH nursing home members, county nursing homes remain optimistic that a better reporting procedure will evolve.

JUVENILE DETENTION AND SHELTER In 2000, there were 24 juvenile detention centers throughout Pennsylvania averaging 21,000 intakes annually. Since then, the number of facilities has decreased to continued page 31

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Information on CCAP’s Annual Conference is now available.

Considering your options for managed care?

C o n sid e r C O M C A R E P R O

COMCARE PRO Insurance, RRG, is a program of the County Managed Care Resource (COMCARE) and the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania. COMCARE PRO provides the Department of Public Welfare required stop-loss liability insurance to Pennsylvania counties and non -profit corporations (whose sole members are Pennsylvania counties).

COMCARE PRO provides coverage for high cost inpatient behavioral health claims related to the Medicaid managed behavioral health program HealthChoices. Subscribers are reimbursed for 80% of claims that exceed the self insured retention of $75,000, up to a maximum of $250,000. Also, PRO subscribers have the option of purchasing RTF as a stand alone coverage with a self insured retention of $100,000.

To learn more call PRO at (800) 895-9039.

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Member owned and governed

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Created only for HealthChoices

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Independent actuarial review

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A non-profit, our focus is service

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Personalized claims service

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Because our members are similar, we can afford to spend time and resources on member needs. www.pacounties.org/insurance

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Information on exhibiting or attending the Conference was recently mailed.

You can also find information on the CCAP website.

The event is being held in Hershey August 5- 8 at the Hershey Lodge.

DISCLAIMER County News magazine is published six times a year by the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP). Editorial Offices: PO Box 60769, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17106-0769. The information provided in this publication is not intended to take the place of professional advice. Readers are encouraged to consult with competent legal, financial or other appropriate professionals. Statements of facts and opinions expressed in this publication, by authors other than Association staff and officers, are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent an opinion or philosophy of the officers, members and staff of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP). No endorsement of advertised products or services is implied by CCAP unless those products or services are expressly endorsed, or are owned or managed by the Association programs, or its affiliates.

Materials may not be reproduced or translated in part or in whole without express permission; please direct your requests to Debra S. Tingley APR.

County News

18 and the number of intakes now averages approximately 15,500. The reasons for the decreased numbers of detention placements are complex and may be attributed to a number of factors. The numbers of referrals into the juvenile justice system have decreased nationally, the number of youth enrolled in public schools has decreased and the initiatives designed to move away from institutionalization have moved forward along with the increased use of evidence-based interventions.

There is also evidence to suggest that the laws established to criminalize behavior have resulted in greater numbers of young people charged and imprisoned into adult corrections.

While the juvenile delinquent population referred to detention has decreased, so has the availability of resources. With the closure of six detention facilities over the past decade, there has been an increased need for counties to expand their referral base, moving toward regionalized facilities. While this process allows existing facilities to offset some of their costs, there is inconsistency in referrals making this somewhat risky for long-term budgeting.

Several counties have begun to explore the viability of re-purposing their facilities to offer a greater array of services within

their local communities and to take advantage of the valuable experiences and skills available through their existing detention employees, while maintaining local control shared by the judicial and the executive branches within the county. While some counties have chosen to redefine the role and purpose of their existing county resources, others have chosen to engage in public/private partnerships to develop solutions to local juvenile justice needs.

The very important message here is that there is no single solution that can or should be imposed or managed by the state. Local jurisdictions need to critically examine the variables defined by local data that drives justice response in both adult and juvenile justice systems. Local jurisdictions must then determine specifically what approach is best matched to address the needs of their local communities and then develop strategies that attend to those specific needs.

While there may be several strategic approaches to developing these local solutions, CCAP’s position remains that secure detention must remain as an attainable option for those instances in which all other alternatives fail. While repurposing detention facilities is a valuable cause, CCAP recommends that the flexibility to offer secure beds remain a local option,

too. Local programming assures that the very important factors that improve longterm outcomes remain accessible. These assets all contribute to successful continuity of care and include access to family, to defense council, to medical and behavioral health resources for continuity of care, educational programming, and cultural and religious programming.

THE FUTURE OF THE MEDICAL ASSISTANCE TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM Federal regulations require that each state medical assistance agency ensure that transportation is available for medical assistance recipients to and from medical providers. Non-emergency medical transportation is provided through the Medical Assistance Transportation Program (MATP), which includes travel to and from doctor’s offices, dentists, pharmacies, clinics, hospitals and other medical facilities. The transportation mode is to be that which is least costly, and can include fixed route transportation, paratransit or mileage reimbursement. In Pennsylvania, pursuant to contracts with the state, counties are responsible for providing this service through a funding allocation made to them continued next page

continued next page “Non-emergency medical transportation is provided through the Medical Assistance Transportation Program (MATP), which includes travel to and from doctor’s offices, dentists, pharmacies, clinics, hospitals and other medical facilities. The transportation mode is to be that which is least costly . . .”

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“During the Corbett Administration, counties have pledged to work toward reducing program costs, increasing efficiencies and streamlining services to assure that county taxpayers are not burdened by the state shifting costs to local providers.” from the state pursuant to the Pennsylvania State Plan. Counties are free to choose the method of administration, with some choosing to contract with a transportation provider and other choosing to run the program themselves. For one county, the funds are actually disbursed to a third party broker who manages the program.

Counties have experienced difficulties operating this program for several years, beginning with former Governor Edward Rendell’s Administration and efforts to consolidate and regionalize the program.

During the Corbett Administration, counties have pledged to work toward reducing program costs, increasing efficiencies and stream-lining services to assure that

county taxpayers are not burdened by the state shifting costs to local providers.

Counties have provided suggestions and worked with DPW on ways to streamline trips, limit service areas, adjust trip schedules and identify those with other forms of transportation. Despite these efforts, stories of fraud and abuse continue to rise to the forefront in discussions regarding the program. In addition, obtaining methadone treatment via MATP services has come under increased scrutiny, and last year Act 121 was signed into law limiting mileage reimbursement to that equal to the closest provider, and providing paratransit service only to the provider closest to the individual’s residence.

costs, further decreasing available funds to a program already experiencing a wide spread deficit. For this initiative to be successful and reduce costs as opposed to increase them, due to administrative burdens, the initiative must be implemented with administrative guidelines and measures put into place, and with full consideration of all the concerns. In addition, allocations cannot rest on the guarantee of unenforceable copayments.

Ultimately, questions about the logistics of implementation, from drivers collecting the money to providers tracking who has paid, coupled with privacy issues must thoroughly be examined before this initiative will achieve any cost savings.

While many cost-containment initiatives have been implemented successfully, the most recent proposed initiative is one most counties and providers are not certain can be realistically achieved.

Specifically, the plan to implement a two dollar copayment for paratransit trips is problematic for several reasons. This copayment cannot be enforced by counties, and clients must be transported regardless of whether they have the copayment. It also appears that county allocations will be reduced for unpaid copayments, which would shift a commonwealth cost onto county property taxes result in significant rate hikes.

In addition to these issues, the MATP program has also recently experienced issues in funding requirements that have caused difficulty in administration at the county level. Last year, program funding was reduced by approximately 18 percent in combined state and federal match funds. Despite the implementation of cost -containment initiatives, approximately 90 percent of counties were reporting an inability to fund the program through the remainder of the 2011-2012 year. In addition, 26 counties also received letters indicating that they would not be reimbursed in full for eligible expenditures from FY 2010-2011.

Collection of this copayment will also increase county administrative 32

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County News

Fortunately, after continued communication and discussions with counties and CCAP, DPW became aware of the seriousness of the situation and was able work towards a solution. DPW has now reported it anticipates being able to fund 96 percent of county MATP needs through savings achieved through efficiency initiatives as well as additional funding received from local partners and a supplemental appropriation in FY 2012-2013 proposed budget. DPW also stated that the department has received approval to pay counties for any additional monies owed for FY 2010-

2011. Upon announcing the availability of additional funding, DPW asked that counties refrain from taking actions towards shutting down services.

Of course, until the proposed FY 20122013 budget has received final approval, it is not clear that any additional funds will be forthcoming. In addition, while the FY 2012-2013 proposed budget allocates MATP funding at $74.8 million, which is a large increase from last year’s allocation of $65.2 million, this number could be reduced in the final budget. Accordingly, counties are urged to speak to their state legislators to advocate the need to maintain this funding.

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Looking to the future of MATP, DPW has acknowledged the need for some program changes. It is not clear what DPW has in mind, but this year has shown that at the very least, adequate funding, as well as collaboration with those that administer the program locally, is crucial to achieve success in MATP. THE FUTURE FOR COUNTY SOCIAL SERVICES Counties have selected reform of the human services delivery system, with special emphasis on child welfare services as a priority for 2012. The effort envisions the development of new structures for

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County News

service delivery, reduced administrative oversight that doesn’t produce specific desired outcomes, and streamlining accountability processes that not only save money for counties, but also assure that the main reason behind financial decisions is provision of services to those who need them. Counties have a lot to offer the state, and are ready to drive these changes, in partnership with state officials.

We look forward to working with our legislature and Governor Corbett to find ways to assure the sustainability of the critical social services safety new that counties provide every day.

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By Beverly A. Cigler, Ph.D. Fellow, National Academy of Public Administration Professor of Public Policy and Administration Penn State Harrisburg 34

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County News

The Route to Improved County Services

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35

“Innovative service delivery can increase efficiency, but also enhances the effectiveness of county government overall. Innovative designs and delivery mechanisms already are used in some Pennsylvania counties and across the nation.”

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econciling increasing demands on counties with lagging resources is a central problem faced by counties in serving their residents. Today’s problems are not temporary and won’t likely be solved easily or through traditional approaches.

However, counties face the need to realign service delivery, make better use of existing technology and develop new technologies, centralize information technologies, develop shared facilities and ventures, and find other ways to improve efficiency.

Think, Plan, Manage and Act Strategically Finding examples of innovative service delivery is not a difficult task. The National Association of Counties (NACo), for example, offers Achievement Awards each year for a variety of Best of Category Winners, such as Children and Youth Best Practices or Smart Governance Best Practices. Human Services Innovation Awards are offered by NACo, which publishes detailed descriptions of the various innovations and best practices, placing all on their website. The 2012 Emerging Sustainability Strategies in America’s Counties was just published, for example.

It provides details on 17 emerging sustainability strategies and technologies.

Rather than only learning about piecemeal innovations in county service delivery elsewhere, Pennsylvania’s counties would benefit from a strategic approach to service delivery innovation in order to reconcile growing service demands with

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limited resources. This involves:

among a state, its counties and other local government entities. Approaches that use incentives and local control in designing and implementing programs are most promising. Unfortunately, grants from states are becoming scarce, but counties around the nation are exploring and using shared services/consolidation nonetheless.

Areas ripe for such ventures include:

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Systematic awareness of opportunities

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Developing a new vision for steering county agencies toward innovation

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Encouraging shared services and facilities

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Adjusting the workplace culture and workforce itself toward eliminating barriers to innovation and toward creating incentives to promote innovation

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Information technology

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Provision of information and reporting Procurement and food service

Actively seeking citizen engagement that helps shape plans and expected outcomes

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Facilities and real property management

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Fleet and dispatch activities

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Finance, human resources and administration

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Services, such as parks and libraries, among others

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Innovative service delivery can increase efficiency, but also enhances the effectiveness of county government overall.

Innovative designs and delivery mechanisms already are used in some Pennsylvania counties and across the nation. “Best practices” in service delivery should be examined, improved upon, embraced and implemented, and expanded to increase the quantity and quality of services that the public expects within the current climate of public distrust and limited resources.

Opportunities and Constraints Exist Together The utilization of shared services presents significant opportunity. This sometimes even means service delivery consolidation May/June 2012

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•

Local entities, including counties, townships, cities, schools, higher education institutions and the state sometimes work together to develop tools to enhance the ability to participate in shared services.

This results, for example, in the development of a websites that consolidates existing contracts, service center offerings, and tools, i.e., an information clearing house of shared services. Ohio is in the process of this development to promote shared services among its local governments.

That state is also creating an online portal

through which local entities can engage in joint purchasing. County auditors there will be permitted to serve as fiscal agents for other offices and to share employees across county lines.

A county or counties, a council of governments, or other association of governments such as the county association may provide specialized staff to assist in evaluating options and developing action plans. Similarly, specialized staff can help implement shared services. Reorganization, technology standardization and implementation, information security, process design, change management and other projects are often the basis for even larger-scale efforts.

Twenty-first century technology can be used to streamline local government programs, including county programs.

Developing management efficiency plans allows local entities to use internet tools and other technologies to provide immediate savings and benefits to taxpayers.

Public Defender Information Networks can be created to increase efficiencies in assigning, evaluating and paying public defenders. More internet publishing can replace or enhance traditional printing.

Counties can be instrumental in the development of new cost-saving, statewide public notice websites. Online training for many officials can be expanded.

Structural Changes in County Government as a Pre-Condition to Improved Services?

County officials in many states have decided that the redesign of service delivery systems first entails making structural changes in county government. This has involved eliminating the county commission form of government and moving, instead, to a county executive or county manager form, abolishing some row offices and other positions, and other well publicized changes. It may also involve www.pacounties.org

legal and constitutional changes that allow counties to offer the same services as municipalities as a way to spur new ways for county-municipal cooperation in delivering services.

Before embarking on a serious effort toward improved services, county officials may want to read a new report by the National Center for the Study of Counties, which is a joint venture of the National Association of Counties and the Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia. This 2012 research report, Responding to the New Realities: Case Studies in County Governance, includes case studies of three general areas of county reform: charters that established a new form of government, city-county consolidation, and major county reorganization.

Several cases from an array of states are offered for each of the broad categories.

Overall, the reforms span changes leading to an elected executive and a councilmanager form, but also less dramatic structural changes such as changing the number of commissioners, eliminating some elected row officers, and/or clarifying the ability of May/June 2012

County News

“Approaches that use incentives and local control in designing and implementing programs are most promising. Unfortunately, grants from states are becoming scarce, but counties around the nation are exploring and using shared services/consolidation nonetheless. Areas ripe for such ventures include services, such as parks and libraries, among others.� the county commission to reorganize the county government and delegate authority to the county managers, are included.

Important to improved service delivery is that the case studies demonstrate the importance of creating a culture of continuous improvement, including the reduction of resistance for change from both employees and the public. Reform itself becomes a cultural norm through this effort. Ways to increase accountability through centralization of executive authority comprises lessons examined by the case studies. continued page 44

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Arts and Culture: A Tool for County Redevelopment

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By Lori Frush Schmelz, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts

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uildings once used as manufacturing or commercial facilities that are no longer in use become prone to illegal dumping, graffiti and nuisance activities. They fall into disrepair and became dangerous eyesores. In cities and communities across the country, these unused buildings have been adapted for reuse for a range of arts and cultural activities including art

centers, artist housing, artist studios and galleries. When these spaces open, the inhabitants of the building join the community and spur other rehabilitation in surrounding vacant buildings.

In the Brookings Institute’s 2003 Back to Prosperity: A Competitive Agenda for Renewing Pennsylvania, the report focuses on the minimal population growth, sprawl and abandonment of the cities, boroughs and townships and the lagging economy of the commonwealth. Within the pages of the report, the reader can conclude that although Pennsylvania is underachieving, the state has the opportunity to prosper with all of the wonderful assets that remain within its boundaries.

continued next page

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“During the 1960s, the D. Theodoredis and Sons banana distribution warehouse served as a place where bananas were processed, distributed and sold throughout the northeastern United States. As happened in many Pennsylvania cities, the building, in Bethlehem’s South Side was left vacated due to the economic downturn.”

Sprawl and abandonment have left a

surplus of neglected manufacturing and commercial facilities within the Commonwealth. Pennsylvania’s leaders can begin to salvage these historically and architecturally important buildings to promote resurgence in their communities.

Over the past few decades, a number of adaptive reuse projects have emerged around Pennsylvania and the arts and culture have been the force behind the revitalization efforts.

The North Side is the term used to describe the 18 Pittsburgh neighborhoods that occupy the northern banks of the Ohio and Allegheny Rivers. Until its annexation by the City of Pittsburgh in the 20th century, the North Side was originally the Allegheny City and home to both the wealthy and working class.

With success in mattress production, George Stearns and Seth Foster expanded their Ohio manufacturing plant to seven communities, including the Mexican War Streets area in Pittsburgh. Similarly, to other post-industrial cities, Pittsburgh faced a number of economic and cultural challenges. From 1970 to 2000, Pittsburgh lost 57 percent of its manufacturing jobs with a number of plants and manufacturing facilities closing.

With the closing of the Stearns and Foster warehouse, the structure sat abandoned for a number of years. In 1977 Barbara Luderowski, the nationally recognized founder, envisioned a place where artists could gather and the Mattress Factory, a one-of-a-kind contemporary art museum, was created. The six-story industrial building was rehabilitated to include studio/living space, a co-op restaurant, and an experimental theater. The museum exhibits room-sized installations that engage the architecture of the site and the community and region.

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Over time, Luderowski wisely developed the adjacent abandoned buildings next to the Mattress Factory and became a driving force in revitalizing a number of blighted properties in the North Side. The area has since become a strong arts community and is home to other nationally known cultural facilities, such as the Andy Warhol Museum and the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh.

During the Industrial Revolution, Bethlehem was a hub of heavy industry and trade. Founded in 1904 Bethlehem Steel Corporation began production and extended to over one-sixth of the City.

After 104 years of operation, the steel plant closed leaving a portion of the city deserted and bleak. Other local factories also shut down leaving the City abandoned and in an economic depression.

During the 1960s, the D. Theodoredis and Sons banana distribution warehouse served as a place where bananas were processed, distributed and sold throughout the northeastern United States. As

happened in many Pennsylvania cities, the building, in Bethlehem’s South Side was left vacated due to the economic downturn.

During the 1990s, the South Side was an area in transition like much of Bethlehem.

The neighborhood had a few stylish stores near Third and New Streets, and some restaurants and shops on Fourth Street that catered to the surrounding community.

The entrepreneurs of these establishments were pioneers of the neighborhood.

Bethlehem is making strides in turning around this once economically depressed area by creating and sustaining a local artist community. In 1998, a group purchased the 63,000 square foot banana plant and created the Banana Factory, an art center with two contemporary galleries, 27 studio artists, five art classrooms, and a unique gift shop.

The inception of the Banana Factory has served as a springboard for additional revitalization efforts. The South Side has

Banana Factory visitors find displays of artisans work; glass working shown at right.

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County News

become home to a number of restaurants and a former Bethlehem Steel building was converted into a complex featuring condominiums, a restaurant, and a health club and parking deck. ArtsQuest, founder of the Banana Factory, has embarked on another project, in partnership with the region’s public television station, located next to the former Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces. The SteelStax projects will create a complex that includes event, broadcast, and community arts centers.

With all of these completed and planned projects, the South Side is now viewed as the cultural center of the City.

downtown, the Main Street Warren leadership is attempting to turn around this decline with revitalization and reuse of historic buildings. In 2007, the Main Street committee retrofitted a vacant storefront property and created a gallery to exhibit the region’s artists. With the huge success of the gallery, the leadership of the Main Street program is planning to create an Artisan Corridor, which will include the proposed Allegheny Center for the Arts, an arts center with a gallery, an arts incubator, arts-related businesses, bakery and bookstore.

With the abundance of wood and access to water, lumber was the main industry in Warren from the early to mid 1800s. In the late 19th century, oil was discovered and came to dominate the town’s economy. The lumber and oil barons left an abundance of extraordinary structures that populated the streets of this small northwestern community.

In 1999 in California, the City of Los Angeles adopted ground-breaking legislation to encourage the adaptive reuse of the downtown’s mostly historic office buildings into lofts, apartments, condominiums, and hotels. The Adaptive Reuse Ordinance was implemented to attract residents and visitors who would bring liveliness to the city’s urban core, while addressing the city’s housing crisis.

Even with diversified industries, Warren has struggled through hard economic times and felt the hollowing out of its downtown. With a number of vacant structures afflicting the once robust

Known to the skeptics as Skid Row, the Old Bank District was made up of early 20th century commercial buildings that occupied a not particularly friendly area in Los Angeles’ historic core. Bordered by

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the Jewelry District, the Fashion District, Gallery Row, the Toy District, and the Civic Center, this district was the first area to benefit from the newly adopted adaptive reuse legislation. Opened in 2000, the residential conversion project recycled an architecturally distinct office building into a high-end 230-unit residential building.

Since the completion of that first project, over 2,100 units have been completed and an additional 8,000 are either under construction or in development launching a housing boom in the Downtown. Other areas of Los Angeles are now profiting from residential and commercial growth.

In 2003, the city expanded the Adaptive Reuse Ordinance to cover the historic suburbs of Hollywood, Chinatown, Lincoln Heights, business districts.

Adaptive reuse projects can stabilize and increase property values, enhance the visual aesthetic, and spur other economic development projects. Whether a community takes a residential approach or an arts and culture focus, these types of projects help to change the appearance of what a community once was by using what already exists.

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Questions AND

Answers

Q: How is policy developed within CCAP? A: CCAP’s legislative and regulatory policy is based on the resolutions that are adopted by the CCAP general membership at CCAP’s Annual Conference. These resolutions as a whole make up the CCAP County Platform, which provides the policy basis for CCAP members and staff.

The Platform is a compilation of all resolutions adopted to date and is arranged by subject matter. Responsibility for developing and pursing strategies for the implementation of the resolutions contained in the Platform falls to the Association board of directors, standing committees, special committees and staff, with the grassroots assistance of the membership.

Q: How is it determined what Resolutions are added to the Platform each year?

A: Counties and CCAP affiliates are invited to submit resolutions addressing statewide county policy issues in April through June of each year.

The CCAP policy committees also hold teleconferences or meetings to review pro42

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posed resolutions submitted by either the membership or the committee Proposed resolutions are also reviewed to determine relevancy and accordance with the county mission. Committees are also tasked with reviewing all Platform elements under their jurisdiction at this time for relevancy, whether it has been accomplished, or if it should be amended.

In July, the CCAP Resolutions Committee accepts the resolutions that have been put forward from the policy committees and the counties or individual members.

The Resolutions Committee then rewrites the members’ suggestions as amendments to the Platform and forwards the resolutions to the full CCAP membership in preparation for consideration at the Annual Conference, with recommendations on whether to adopt or reject each resolution, with or without amendment. The only resolutions not submitted to the membership are those that are already part of the Platform or are not germane to counties and the Association.

At the CCAP Annual Conference, standing committees meet to review the resolutions submitted for membership consideration.

The Resolutions Committee meets in an open session to review resolutions submitMay/June 2012

County News

QUESTIONS FROM YOU ABOUT COUNTY GOVERNMENT AND OTHER TOPICS Do you have a question about some county government process, operation or regulation? You might find the answer right here in CCAP’s Question and Answer column.

Look for interesting questions each month and the answers you need to help you each day in your county operations.

You also can submit a question to the editor and have it answered here. Email questions to dtingley@pacounties.org.

You can also participate in CCAP’s listserv. This listserv will allow you to pose questions to your colleagues in the 67 counties and receive instant feedback and advice.

Email Lori Dabbondanza at ldabbon@ pacounties.org to start taking advantage of this useful and insightful membership tool and find out how you can get the answers and advice you need.

ted to date, accepting any new resolutions or modifications to proposed resolutions, and hearing additional policy committee recommendations. The resolutions are presented for a vote by all county commissioners, chief clerks and solicitors during Tuesday’s General Session and those approved are added to the Platform.

Q: How does CCAP develop yearly legislative priorities?

A: At the CCAP Fall Conference, CCAP develops legislative work plans and sets legislative priorities for the upcoming year.

Each standing policy committee develops its own work plan based on the elements of the CCAP Platform, issues the committee wishes to pursue, and issues which are likely to be raised by the administration, general assembly or other outside sources. Each of these policy committees then nominates priorities from their work plans for consideration by the voting members of CCAP. The voting members

of the CCAP committees meet and receive a report from the chairs of each standing committee on the issues the committee will be working on during the upcoming year as well as any issues nominated for consideration as a priority by the entire membership for the following year.

The priorities for the upcoming year are then determined by weighted voting of CCAP members present during the general session. The priorities are then unveiled during a press conference in Harrisburg early in the following year by CCAP leadership, at which time members also visit key legislators to promote the priorities. The priorities are also shared with all members at this time, with recommendations for members on how to advocate and act to advance the priorities.

Q: What are CCAP’s standing policy committees?

A: CCAP’s standing and ad hoc policy committees include Agriculture, Assessment and Taxation, Community and Eco-

nomic Development, County Governance, Courts and Corrections, Energy Environment and Land Use, Human Services, and Military and Veterans Affairs (ad hoc).

The standing CCAP policy committees give guidance to the CCAP staff at regularly scheduled meetings, through teleconference, email, or by other means, on achieving legislative priorities, translating resolutions into legislation, and developing and deciding on legislative and regulatory strategy based on the county priorities voted on by the CCAP members and the Pennsylvania County Platform developed by the CCAP members.

Committee members are asked to analyze relevant issues for their impact on counties, testify before legislative committees, and undertake and lead grassroots efforts on issues impacting their subject area.

Committees are also tasked with reacting quickly to legislation, regulation, or other initiatives where CCAP’s position is sought by policymakers such as legislation or regulation not specifically addressed in the Platform.

Does your county offer online access of employee retirement benefits? Want to let your employees calculate their own retirement estimates?

If your county is interested in providing this benefit, please contact Hay Group today. We have over 60 years of experience working with counties on actuarial and benefi ts issues.

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Our areas of expertise include: Public and private retirement systems Post-employment benefits consulting Cost containment through benefits program design Design and analysis of organizations and jobs Talent, compensation, and performance management Executive remuneration and corporate governance Employee and customer attitude research

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Contact Henry E. Stiehl at 215.861.2478 or hank.stiehl@haygroup.com or David D. Reichert at 215.861.2479 or david.reichert@haygroup.com

May/June 2012

County News

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The Route to Improved County Services continued form page 37

Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, one of the cases studied, was highlighted for its attempt to increase accountability to the public, achieve better control of spending, and develop easier implementation of efficiency reforms. Luzerne County’s reform movement, along with that of Cuyahoga County in Ohio, demonstrates that seizing opportunities can lead to major change. In these cases, the public’s frustration with government officials’ corruption scandals was the catalyst for change.

The Great Recession, with its accompanying fiscal stress may also be an op-

government entails increased teamwork and a network driven organization, not a hierarchically driven government structure. Such a system requires decentralized structures and an empowered staff that is not micromanaged and which is held primarily accountable for results rather than for simply conforming to rules, many of which may be outdated. The “new rules” in this scenario involve promoting innovation, not protecting the status quo. For elected officials, it means having to think less about what programs to cut or taxes to raise, which inevitably leads to the “blame game” involving all decisions. Instead, it

Collaboration Strategies Counties nationwide are assessing whether there are potential partner organizations to lend credibility to and support to their projects. Working together, counties and their local governments can update their IT systems and establish interconnectivity among them to improve services and save money. Collaboration in establishing interconnections of government units with high speed broadband networks to improve services in disaster recovery, general IT services and other services are being established. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) enable dozens of entities to work together in a region, for example, to complete required mapping for federal storm water control regulations. Sharing the costs of hardware, software, training, and personnel, along with taking advantage of existing technology and expertise, unified and comprehensive maps of storm water systems are developed.

An Engaged Public

portunity for reform. Three of the cases in the study used fiscal stress to deal with immediate budget shortfalls but resulting reforms to the county organizations will yield long term efficiencies.

Accountability for RESULTS Whatever the structure of county government, a major tool is emphasizing accountability for delivering specified results.

This is in contrast to seeking accountability simply for following what may be highly outdated specified procedures or rules. Mission and results oriented county 44

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“Working together, counties and their local governments can update their IT systems and establish interconnectivity among them to improve services and save money. Collaboration in establishing interconnections of government units with high speed broadband networks to improve services in disaster recovery, general IT services and other services are being established.”

means that elected officials set the mission and choose results that the public values at a price they are willing to pay.

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County News

The chances for innovation in county government service delivery are dependent on public acceptance. The general public, however, is much less positive and much more critical of government than has been the case for decades. To enhance service delivery and create an environment conducive to innovation, public officials must improve public understanding of the purposes and possibilities of county government action. Citizen trust and engagement is dependent, in part, on how counties make available relevant data in understandable formats to the public. This means, in addition, improving the array of electronic government services or “egovernment.” One-stop shops for information are favored by the public. Fortunately, information technology marches forward at a rapid pace so interested county officials can harness technology in helping to educate the public as to “why they pay taxes” and engage the public in assessing genuine “needs.”

Responding to the New Realities: Case Studies in County Governance, supports

the idea that paying attention to public demands and expectations is needed for any reform effort. Open meetings, with encouragement of public involvement, were important to the reforms. Similarly, it can be argued that changes in the design of a service delivery system requires keeping in close touch with public needs and expectations. Many counties across the country have guidelines and policies that manage their social media presence.

the right “ Finding answers quickly is my priority.”

“And our top priority is you.”

Important is the necessity, however, to work with the legal counsel to establish policy. Among the legal issues to be considered with a social media policy are First Amendment issues related to government restrictions on speech, the use of public resources issues, employee use of the social media and open meetings, public records retention and disclosure issues.

The public affairs department in Fairfax County, Virginia developed social media account set-up questionnaires for county departments and agencies to complete so that important aspects of social media use are considered. There is a Twitter-use form and a Facebook-use form and a general social media questionnaire, for examples.

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extensive Learning Center, customized planning ideas and more — it’s all new

Innovative service delivery can be a transformative change for a county government. This doesn’t mean a rejection of what is done currently since much may already work well. Instead, thinking strategically and having a vision that can be implemented for instilling innovation in service delivery—by removing barriers to innovation and creating incentives that result in new models for service delivery— will pave the way. There are no silver bullets for helping counties provide innovative service delivery, but the payoffs can be substantial for instituting a number of promising changes. Any perceived or real difficulties in moving down the road toward innovation are offset by the sheer thought of the status quo, which is unsustainable in the “new normal” environment for governments in general.

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and it’s here for you.

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Nationwide and the Nationwide framemark are service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. NRM-8830AO

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45

Insurance Programs Loss Control Training

Join the CCAP Insurance Programs for more than 40 workshops throughout the year and locations across the commonwealth!

Workshop topics include: Leadership Maintenance Management Personnel Prisons Professional Development Safety For more information about our workshops, please call or visit our website: (800) 895-9039 www.pacounties.org

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2012 CCAP Solicitors’ Conference June 29 at CCAP North Office - Harrisburg Join your colleagues for a full day of education and discussion!

• Women’s Health Issues in Prisons • Ethics • Act 47 Receivership in the City of Harrisburg • Top 10 Case Law Review: Hot Topics!

The county member fee is $125 per person and includes a continental breakfast, refreshment breaks, lunch and Conference materials.

Register online at www.pacounties.org.

www.pacounties.org

May/June 2012

County News

47

TECHNOLOGY NOTES

Cyber Security and Your County: Why You Should Care and What You Can Do

by William Pelgrin, Chair, MS-ISAC and President and CEO, Center for Internet Security

M

any of our critical government services rely on the Internet and technology to function. While this interconnectivity has many benefits—such as convenience and efficiency—there are risks associated with this digital environment.

The cyber challenges facing us continue to escalate. We only need to look at the headlines to understand that the risks are real and that local governments are vulnerable: hacktivist groups targeting local police departments across the nation, disgruntled employees hacking into municipal networks and public health records being stolen by cyber criminals are just a few recent cases targeting local governments.

Some specific examples of how your county’s computer system could be affected by a cyber security incident—whether because of improper cyber security controls, man-made or natural disasters, or malicious users wreaking havoc— include the following:

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Your websites could be disabled and unavailable to your citizens.

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Criminals could break into your sysMay/June 2012

County News

tems and steal personal and sensitive information about your employees or citizens.

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A virus could shut down your network.

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A laptop or mobile device could be inadvertently lost, putting any data on that machine at risk for compromise.

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A malicious user could use your systems to attack other systems.

These and other information security incidents would certainly have a negative impact on your ability to provide services to citizens, may be costly to recover from and could potentially result in a loss of public confidence.

Local governments have a responsibility to citizens and business partners to safeguard the information with which they are entrusted and to keep mission critical operations functioning.

Don’t Get Overwhelmed…

Get Started!

Addressing these challenges can seem daunting. Especially for those with a lack

“Make sure that cyber security is factored into business decisions and that the individual(s) responsible for cyber security in your county are involved in the discussions whenever a new program or service is being considered.” of experience or resources to address the constant evolving and increasing threats from cyberspace, it is difficult to know what to do or how to get started. But, there are many proactive steps that can strengthen your county’s cyber security posture, and many of them can be implemented with a relatively small amount of fiscal and staff resources. In fact, a recent report found that 96 percent of data breaches could have been avoided if simple controls were in place.

from authorized access, loss or theft?

Designate a principal individual responsible for cyber security. This may be a part-time or full-time assignment depending on the scope and complexity of your organization’s operations.

It may be your county’s Information Technology director, a third-party consultant or other designee. Make sure this individual can provide you with answers to these questions: •

How are we protecting our cyber infrastructure and residents’ data?

•

What policies and procedures do we have in place that will physically protect all of our equipment

What is our plan for responding to a cyber security incident?

•

What cyber security policies are in place?

•

Is staff trained on those policies?

•

Make sure that cyber security is factored into business decisions and that the individual(s) responsible for cyber security in your county are involved in the discussions whenever a new program or service is being considered.

•

Serve as the champion for cyber security in your county. Make sure you adhere to best practices, such as using a strong password, never opening unknown attachments in emails, and only visiting trusted websites.

Steps Every County Official Should Take •

•

Engage the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center for Help For assistance with any of the above tips, and to learn more about keeping your county protected, contact the Multi-State

Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC). The MS-ISAC is a division of the not-for-profit Center for Internet Security, and is designated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as a key resource for cyber threat prevention, protection, response and recovery for the nation’s state, local, territorial and tribal governments.

The MS-ISAC provides a number of resources at no cost to its members, including incident response; cyber alerts and advisories; monthly webcast meetings; annual in-person meeting; trainings and exercises; annual Cyber Security Awareness Month materials; and a community of practice for information sharing between and among states and local governments.

There is no cost to join the MS-ISAC and membership is open to all state, local, territorial and tribal governments. To learn more about how your county government can become a member and take advantage of this resource, contact the MS-ISAC: Kristin Judge Center for Internet Security Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (518) 368-8824 Kristin.judge@msisac.org

“The cyber challenges facing us continue to escalate. We only need to look at the headlines to understand that the risks are real and that local governments are vulnerable . . .”

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How The Nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Counties Stack Up The twelfth edition of the 2012 Operations Survey conducted by the National Association of Counties (NACo), was designed to acquire knowledge and understanding of county government operations throughout the nation. The survey covers the topics of county administration, health and human services, economic development, environment, and justice and public safety. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a look at how todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s counties across the United States are operating in comparison to Pennsylvania.

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f the counties who participated in the survey, 70 percent of their state laws do not allow consolidation, but in the 30 percent of counties that are in states that do, only one of these provides incentives for counties to consolidate with cities.

Counties have recently begun to use social media tools to communicate with citizens.

Of the 62 percent of respondents whose counties are using these tools, 53 percent are using Facebook, 36 percent are using Twitter, 13 percent are using mobile apps and 11 percent are using YouTube.

Additionally, 77 percent indicated that their county is moving toward increased use of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices by employees.

Of the responding counties, 65 percent have a county motor vehicle fleet greater than 50. Twenty three percent have more than 25, but less than 50 and just 11 percent of respondents have county motor vehicle fleets of less than 25.

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Here is a look at the top employee adjustments that counties have implemented:

•

•

Below are examples of several tools that counties have used to finance economic development and the percentage of responding counties who employ these types of funding:

• • • •

Seventy-two percent have increased health care deductibles Sixty-one have increased health care co-pay Fifty-six percent have increased cost of prescriptions Fifty-one percent have increased health care contribution for employees’ families Fifteen percent have decreased health care program coverage HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Many services and activities of counties are dictated by state laws and can vary based on the state in which the county is located. Some states require that counties provide indigent health care services and 54 percent of responding counties indicated that their state does. Laws also vary on Medicaid contributions and 61 percent said that their county was not required by state law to contribute to the non-federal share of Medicaid.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Counties can play different roles in primary and secondary education, including those who play no role in local schools which is about 48 percent of the counties who responded to the 2012 survey. Thirty five percent of counties indicated they collect taxes for an independent school board. Ten percent are required to contribute county funds for schools, but spending is controlled by a separate board. In just three percent of responding counties, the county board has final approval of the county school budget.

In recent years, foreclosures have increasingly become a greater issue in counties.

While 79 percent of counties do not work with communities on the issue of foreclosure, below are ways that others have: • • •

Twelve percent provide counseling and education directly with homeowners Nine percent work directly with homeowners to identify opportunities to modify their mortgage loans Seven percent purchase and rehabilitate abandoned and/or foreclosed properties www.pacounties.org

• • • • • •

Four percent establish Land Banks for foreclosed properties

Seventy percent use community development block grants Sixty-five percent use county general funds Forty-nine percent use public/private partnerships Forty seven percent use state funds Forty percent use workforce training/ retraining Thirty-seven percent use industrial development bonds

Counties often work closely with other local governments in a variety of activities.

Surveyed counties indicated collaborating on the following activities: • • • • • • •

Seventy-six on regional economic development strategies Fifty-four percent on local workforce investment board Twenty-four percent form alliances to promote region in global markets Twenty-one percent use labor market analysis Eighteen report using metropolitan strategies to combat homelessness Seventeen percent say they use functional consolidation through joint powers agreement Fifteen percent cites metropolitan affordable housing strategies

Depending on the state and county, jail health and medical services can be provided in several different ways including: • • • •

Sixty percent report contracting with private provider(s) Sixteen percent report using county employees Fifteen percent report using some other type of arrangement Nine percent contract with community provider(s)

The majority of those who chose ‘other’ indicated that their county jail health and medical services are provided by some combination of the other three providers.

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ENVIRONMENT When looking at building codes and who has responsibility for adopting or overseeing them, 79 percent report that municipalities have responsibility, 73 percent said states and counties (61 percent) all have significant authority to adopt/designate local building codes. There are many different types of building codes implemented.

Land Use The county planning commission has land use authority in a majority of counties (78 percent). This authority includes comprehensive planning (73 percent), zoning (67 percent), flood plain management planning (65 percent) and development review (61 percent).

Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) Of the counties surveyed, 53 percent receive federal payments in lieu of taxes (PILT) while 47 percent of responding counties do not. Of the PILT recipients, 63 percent expend PILT for general funds.

JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY Though county jail overcrowding is a problem in some areas, the majority (78 percent) indicated that their jail has not been judicially determined to be overcrowded. Of those who live in counties with overcrowded jails, the majority said that they are less than 20 percent overcrowded.

Counties often contract with their municipalities to deliver justice functions. Here are examples of the services most often used: • • • •

Joint communications (911)—58 percent Joint dispatch—55 percent Forensic Crime lab—19 percent Joint record keeping—17 percent

Of the 67 counties that have had a natural disaster within the past three years, floods and winter storms were the most common occurring. Most of the affected counties were able to receive funding from FEMA (61 counties), a state emergency agency (46 counties) or the Red Cross (33 counties).

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Focused on Counties

Chester County

Community Profiles

Serving the Information Needs of Chester County Residents

By Ronald T. Bailey, Executive Director of the Chester County Planning Commission Chester County develops a new interactive web application to provide current community data on people, housing, open space and development, transportation, economic development, government and community facilities.

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very ten years the Federal Bureau of the Census completes a count of the population of the United States. The statistics that are generated by the Census are used in innumerable ways, not the least of which is that they serve as the basis for classifying counties in Pennsylvania and distributing federal and state revenues.

Demographic statistics also form a basic foundation of most county planning efforts, and, as a consequence, county planning commissions have typically assumed the responsibility of working with the State Data Center to process and analyze the Census results for counties and municipalities.

Many county planning commissions generate data sheets that are based on the Census. County planning commissions, therefore, serve as the principal source within each county of a wide variety of demographic information.

Historically, this has been a role of the Chester County Planning Commission. In 52

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past years the Commission has produced publications covering subjects such as the characteristics of the population, the historic growth of population, distribution of population among municipalities, and profiles of housing and households.

In 2006 the Chester County Planning Commission went a step further and developed a series of booklets that profiled the different areas of the county. These booklets, called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Community Profiles,â&#x20AC;? included traditional Census-type demographic information, but also included information on land use and development, transportation, the economy, government and community facilities.

The booklets proved to be immensely popular for a wide variety of applications and purposes, but, like any printed document quickly became out-dated as population continued to grow and conditions in the county continued to change.

With the release of the 2010 Census, the Chester County Planning Commission began to update the Community Profiles May/June 2012

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using new information. The development of the American Community Survey ongoing survey provides current data every year. This requires greater flexibility to keep data products up-to-date. Instead of printing a new set of booklets, however, the commission developed an interactive Web application.

In late 2011, the Chester County Planning Commission released a new Web-based Community Profiles. The Commission added the Community Profiles to a website, www.landscapes2.org that is dedicated to the comprehensive plan for the county that was adopted by the county commissioners in 2009.

The Profiles are available online at www. landscapes2.org/ccpc/profiles/communityprofiles.html. The new Community Profiles Interactive Data Resource provides information about the things that make Chester County a communityâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;its people, housing, open space and development, transportation, economic development, government and community facilities.

The information is available by several types of geographic areas. Information can be queried for the county, as a whole, or it can be viewed by region, municipality, or school district. Data can be displayed in the form of tables, graphs or maps, and select data can be compared. For instance, the age of housing in the whole county can be compared with the age of housing in a specific municipality.

Information can be located geographically by using maps of the county. Base maps are presented in a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Google-mapâ&#x20AC;? format, which is familiar to most web users. The maps can also be viewed with an aerial photograph base that shows all of the landform and development pattern features.

These maps can be scaled up or down, and when a user selects a geographic area, names of the jurisdictions and facilities in that area will display on the screen when a user places the cursor over the feature.

Users can select different types of demographic data to view and can choose whether to view the data in a table or in a graph. Clicking columns in a table will

sort the data by individual jurisdiction, while at the same time presenting data for the entire area selected on the map.

Additional information can be selected on the map. This includes data on subjects such as transit services, train stations, airports, highway traffic volumes, commuter patterns, locations of places of employment, parks and natural areas, county and municipal buildings, courts, state house and senate districts, congressional districts, and the locations of schools, universities, libraries, ambulance stations, fire stations, police stations, hospitals and other key facilities. When the curser is moved over a facility on the map, the user can link to the appropriate website where additional information can be obtained.

For instance, if a user clicks on a bus route or a passenger rail station, the user will be able to link directly to a website with the schedule for the service.

divisions and land developments. Users can view maps that show the travel time to work from the various regions of the county and review data on the number of registered vehicles in each household and how that number varies by municipality.

Creation of the Community Profiles Interactive Data Resource was done entirely by in-house staff employed by the Chester County Planning Commission, without the expense of outside consultants or Web developers. The Community Profiles Interactive Data Resource is an example of the types of resources and services provided to the businesses and residents of Chester County by the Chester County Board of Commissioners through its appointed commissions and staff.

Maps also show the existing land use in the county and in each of the countyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 73 municipalities, where new housing units are being constructed, and proposed sub-

(Sample profile page)

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TM

LEGAL BRIEF A County Official’s Overview for Electronic Communications and Websites By Anne Davies Newman Attorney at Law Pepper Hamilton LLP

T

he Internet is a wonderful tool. It provides ready access to information and enables quick and efficient communication. But is that information reliable? To whom does it belong? And how much communication is too much? In the years since the Internet has become a tool on which businesses and county governments rely, these and other questions have been getting resolved.

WEB SITE TERMS OF USE Why have one? Here are some examples: to clarify your relationship with your users and members, to set their expectations about interactions with your website, and to protect your county from liability.

What topics should it cover? That depends on what goes on at your website. If your site is interactive, the terms it needs are different from those needed for purely informational sites. Some topics should be covered by all website Terms of Use. Here are a few of the topics to be considered: USE OF PROPRIETARY WEB SITE CONTENT All websites contain content, and in the case of county governments, a wide

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variety of content: information on elected officials, voter registration and election results, community and economic development, the courts and the criminal justice system, parks and recreation, meeting schedules, agendas and minutes – the list goes on.

Whose content is this, anyway?

That depends on how the county acquired it. If an article was written by a county employee within the scope of his/her employment, then under federal copyright law (17 U.S.C. §101), the content belongs to the county. If the county hired a third party to develop the content, then the content belongs to the third party – unless he or she assigns it to the county. (Tip: Get assignments in writing.) If the content was developed by a third party who permits the county to post it, then the county uses that content under a license (perpetual or for a limited term) from the third party.

In any event, the content does not belong to users of the website. The website (including text, graphics, images, layout, page flow, etc.) is proprietary to the county, and the county can decide what limitations, if any, it should place on the use of

the information by visitors. The county might decide for example, to permit users to make copies of material on the site for their own personal use, but to prohibit copying and/or distribution for commercial purposes. Or the county might decide to prohibit other websites from displaying portions of the county site in “frames” without its advance written consent.

This goes for use by the county of material from the websites of others, too. Check the website’s Terms of Use, to see if you can use the material you find there, before doing so.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY Content is produced by people and people make mistakes. While the county will exercise care in vetting the content it posts on its site, it should also make clear to its users that the content is provided without warranty as to its accuracy, completeness or fitness for the purpose for which the user plans to use it. It should set its users’ expectations by providing that the risk associated with relying on the content in question is the user’s risk, making it clear that the user should verify whatever he or she finds on the site, if he or she plans to rely on it.

USER COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE WEB SITE Does the county’s website permit users to post content? If so, consider the following: Before 1996, some courts had suggested that Internet service providers that play an editorial role with regard to content contributed by users, become publish-

ers, legally responsible for libel and other wrongs committed by users.

In response, Congress passed the Telecommunications Decency Act of 1996, which exempts website operators from liability for content posted by users, where the website monitors and restricts access to material the operator considers “obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing or otherwise objectionable.” This “Good Samaritan exemption,” is intended to create an incentive for websites to monitor content posted by users.

To qualify for the exemption, a website should establish a policy of restricting access to objectionable content.

But the Good Samaritan exemption does not protect a website operator from liability for copyright infringement, where a user posts content that infringes on the copyright of a third party. If the website operator is unaware of the infringement and derives no financial benefit from it, it can limit its liability for some (but not all) forms of liability for copyright infringement by following the “notice and take-down procedures” established by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA - 17 U.S.C. §512).

Under these procedures, a person who believes that content posted on a particular site infringes on his/her copyright, notifies the site of his/her claim. The website “takes down” the offending content and notifies the user who posted the content that it is being taken down. If the user who posted the content objects that the content does not infringe, the website operator notifies the complainant that it will re-post the content unless the complainant takes

legal action against the alleged infringer.

A website’s Terms of Use should alert users to the DMCA and provide contact information for the county’s “copyright agent” (a person designated to receive notices of infringement), for use by those who believe, their copyright has been infringed. In addition, in order to obtain the protections of the DMCA, the county needs to record the contact information for its copyright agent with the U.S. Copyright Office. The form for doing so can be found here www.copyright.gov/onlinesp/ agent.pdf.

LINKS TO OTHER WEB SITES Many websites contain links to other websites. The county’s website terms of use should make it clear that the county has no control over websites to which its website links, that it is not responsible for the content at those sites, and in particular that the data collection practices of the linked website will be governed by its privacy policy, not by that of the county.

ARE USERS BOUND BY TERMS OF USE? Good question. An agreement to Terms of Use requires the consent of the user.

Where the user “clicks” his/her consent, Terms of Use are more likely to be found enforceable than where no affirmative action is required. For this reason, the county should require registration and/or “click through” agreement for those portions of its website that expose the county to risk, for example, features that permit users to post to the site or communicate with the site or other users.

“While the county will exercise care in vetting the content it posts on its site, it should also make clear to its users that the content is provided without warranty as to its accuracy, completeness or fitness for the purpose for which the user plans to use it.” www.pacounties.org

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FROM THE STREET CCAP routinely asks it members from across the commonwealth to tell us what is on their minds or to share insights and thoughts with peers from around the state. If you would like to be featured in this column, please contact the County News Editor, dtingley@pacounties.org. Or if you have questions you would like us to pose to your peers, please feel free to send those along, too.

Barbara Cross, Cumberland County Commissioner

What one piece of information recently obtained from a CCAP service, product or event, did you find helpful in your job?

Barbara Cross says: The information presented during the 2012 Spring Conference by Berks County and CCAP staff titled “From Civil Service to Merit Hire” was excellent. This step by step guide provides a concise and uniformed process for counties to explore this option.

Marc Rice says:

Marc Rice, Tioga County Risk Manager

The recent service I found most helpful in my job is use of CCAP’s slip meter. The slip meter helped identify hazardous walking surfaces in several county buildings and the loss control department made recommendations to improve the identified areas.

Paul Straka says: The one piece of information recently received which I find most helpful would be the CCAP Legislative Bulletin.

The articles are always timely and extremely helpful for the day-to-day operations of county government. The November 2011 Bulletin explained the (proposed) changes in mandated requirements for bidding. Our county, much like many others, relies heavily on contracted services. The bill has since enabled the bidding threshold to be significantly increased, thus eliminating the need for formal bids. This not only saves time but also eliminates the need to advertise for bids, which in turn provides a significant savings. Many of the proposed changes in county government are best explained through these Bulletins and more importantly, act as a critical link between elected officials and the House and Senate.

Paul Straka, Schuylkill County Assistant County Administrator 56

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If you could recommend a CCAP workshop or event to other county officials, what would it be and why?

Barbara Cross says: My recommendation is to simply show up! Attend as many workshops as possible and certainly attend the Spring, Annual and Fall CCAP Conferences. Email and conference calls are great, but nothing takes the place of face-to-face conversations and discussions with colleagues as you share your thoughts and ideas.

Marc Rice says: If you are involved in your county’s loss control program, I would recommend the County Risk Managers Council due to the networking benefits and the roundtable session where county staffs discuss what is working in their county to reduce claims and improve safety.

Paul Straka says: I would certainly recommend the CCAP Conferences that are held throughout the year. These Conferences not only offer the benefit of meeting colleagues in neighboring counties, but they also present a broad range of seminars, discussions and “idea sharing” with various government officials and employees. Many of the Academy of Excellence courses are offered at the Conferences, which work to enhance the leadership capabilities of county officials. The Conferences also act as a time to celebrate the many successes of county achievements and strive to provide an opportunity for recommending proposed changes within government operations.

Offering Tools for You to be the Best County Government Leader The County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP) is pleased to offer a certificate training program for county commissioners, council members, county executives, administrators and assistant administrators, chief clerks and assistant chief clerks, solicitors and assistant solicitors, and their equivalents in home rule counties. CCAP and the Academy are committed to training informed and responsive public officials to give Pennsylvania’s counties the leadership needed to deal with the challenges of today’s county government.

The Academy was established in 1996 and honored its fifth graduating class in 2010. The next cycle of the Academy for Excellence in County Government is formally underway - register now to complete the program requirements prior to the next graduation in November 2014.

For more information about the Academy or to register to participate, please contact Mandi Glantz at (717) 526-1010 or mglantz@pacounties.org.

CCAP Academy for Excellence in County Government www.pacounties.org

May/June 2012

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CALENDAR TM

Tuesday, May 15 KEYS: Get it WRITE the First Time The Regional Learning Alliance (RLA) - Cranberry Township

Sunday, August 05 - Wednesday, August 08 CCAP Annual Conference and Trade Show Hershey Lodge - Hershey

Thursday, May 17 Dealing with Threats, Trauma and Violence in the Workplace Best Western/Country Cupboard - Lewisburg

Sunday, August 05 CCAP Board Meeting Hershey Lodge - Hershey

Tuesday, May 22 - Wednesday, May 23 PA GIS Conference Holiday Inn Harrisburg-Hershey - Grantville

Sunday, August 05 CCAP Human Services Committee Meeting Hershey Lodge - Hershey

Tuesday, May 22 KEYS: Get it WRITE the First Time CCAP North Office - Harrisburg

Tuesday, September 11 CCAP IT Quarterly CCAP North Office - Harrisburg

Thursday, May 24 Prison Risk Management Workshop The Hotel Hershey - Hershey

Tuesday, October 02 - Friday, October 05 PCYA Quarterly Meeting The Nittany Lion Inn - State College

Wednesday, May 30 - Thursday, May 31 County Administration Conference The Atherton Hotel, State College

Wednesday, October 03 Quarterly JDCAP Membership Board meeting

Monday, June 11 CCAP Human Services Committee Meeting

Monday, October 08 - Thursday, October 11 2012 PACAH Annual Conference Wyndham - Gettysburg

Tuesday, June 12 - Friday, June 15 PCYA Annual Meeting Sheraton Harrisburg Hershey Hotel - Harrisburg

Wednesday, November 07 - Friday, November 09 PACA MH/DS Fall Conference The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel - State College

Thursday, June 14 JDCAP Membership Board Meeting CCAP North Office - Harrisburg

Thursday, November 15 - Friday, November 16 AAP Fall Conference The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel - State College

Friday, June 15 CCAP Board Meeting - Lebanon County

Sunday, November 18 - Tuesday, November 20 CCAP Fall Conference The Hotel Hershey - Hershey

Friday, June 29 Solicitorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Conference CCAP North Office - Harrisburg

Sunday, November 18 CCAP Board Meeting The Hotel Hershey - Hershey

Thursday, July 12 - Friday, July 13 AAP Board Meeting CCAP North Office - Harrisburg

Sunday, November 18 CCAP Human Services Committee Meeting The Hotel Hershey - Hershey

Friday, July 13 - Tuesday, July 17 NACo Annual Conference Allegheny County - Pittsburgh 58

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