Archuleta County Department of Human Services (DHS) Director Isabel Shelton gave a 2024 second quarter report to the Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) during the BoCC’s Aug. 20 meeting.
Shelton stated she will be resigning from her current role with DHS in the coming weeks, but will be assisting the department with the transition process, with Heidi Martinez to become the new DHS director.
Shelton explained that during the second quarter, DHS eligibility staff helped plan a community-wide resource fair that involved working with Rise Above Violence, the county health department, Pagosa Community Innovative, Healthy Archuleta, Vets for Vets, Axis Health System and a few other local organizations.
She noted that DHS staff put together radio and newspaper advertisements for the event.
“We had a lot of people there in the community, but what really happened is all of these agencies came together and learned so much from each other,” Shelton said.
She added that the community partners strongly encouraged DHS to hold another resource fair next year.
She went on to mention that eligibility staff is currently understaffed and functioning at about 50 percent capacity, “which has been really hard.”
She also explained that a lot of staff work went into DHS receiving the C-Stat award from the Colorado Department of Human Service.
“How we did it, I still don’t know,” she said.
The C-Stat award is given to counties that meet 75 percent or more of monthly C-Stat goals, Shelton explained, noting only 25 counties in the state were given that award this year.
Shelton went on to explain that two of the eligibility technicians moved into different roles within the DHS department.
“The shift in positions has caused an additional workload for those technicians still within the unit. This has taken a lot of planning and prioritizing to meet timeliness for the unit as a whole,” Shelton’s report reads.
According to Shelton’s report, over the quarter (April to June), the DHS department processed 32 audit financial applications, 22 Colorado Works applications, 56 expedited Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) applications, 152 regular SNAP applications and 318 Medicaid applications.
The report also shows the number of redeterminations processed during that time.
According to the report, DHS staff processed seven adult financial redeterminations, nine Colorado Works redeterminations, 185 SNAP redeterminations and 1,180 Medicaid redeterminations.
“Those were our staff functioning at half capacity making that happen for our community,” Shelton said.
She also explained the department partnered with Rocky Mountain Microfilm and Imaging to help the county move to a paperless system for uploading documents.
She explained that DHS has a Zircon container housing its documents and that half of the container has been cleared out — approximately 83 boxes of files.
“It was really amazing that they’re moving in this direction,” she said, noting it will be easier to locate files electronically.
Shelton went on to mention that the department’s fraud investigator, who also serves as case aid for child welfare cases, resigned to take a position with the Archuleta School District.
She noted a new hire has already been brought on and is undergoing training.
Shelton explained that she wrote a grant eight years ago to bring on that fraud investigator position. The grant was awarded for funding for one year, with a caveat to manage the budget to be able to keep the position moving forward.
“We’re happy that it’s still there,” she said.
Shelton also provided an update on the amount of funds the department’s child support unit has been able to bring into the county, noting a total of $716,411.37 from January through June of this year.
“With over 500 cases, brought in all that money in our community,” she said.
Shelton also spoke about more of the staffing changes the department experienced over the quarter, noting DHS also has a new Electronic Benefits Transfer program coordinator.
She also explained that three caseworkers left the department to take other jobs in the community.
She noted that the caseworkers left due to the on-call requirement.
“There is an on-call requirement for the child welfare unit. There has to be a caseworker on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year,” her report reads.
She added the department has been able to replace two of those positions.
“I feel like child welfare is one of the most complex, challenging, exhausting, exhilarating and satisfying practice arenas in human services,” Shelton said.
Shelton also explained that the department has had difficulty filling the family advocate role over the last few years, but was able to fill the position in February.
“At the end of February, Jennifer Read-Lindberg moved from her eligibility role within the department to the family advocate role,” Shelton’s report states.
Shelton also updated the board on the state of the DHS department and conflicts amongst employees.
She explained that the amount of turnover this quarter has contributed to some workplace conflicts.
She noted there are “a lot of things going on in the community, a lot of domestic violence, a lot of fentanyl use, a lot of removals” that staff has had to deal with.
Shelton explained that she hired an expert from La Plata County to come in and help staff resolve its conflicts.
She noted that staff came up with five main concerns and that they are working through each of them during all-staff meetings.
“The conflict has resolved; all the sudden it’s a great place to work,” Shelton said.
She added that staff has given positive feedback about having an expert brought in to help resolve conflicts.
Commissioner Veronica Medina expressed praise for Shelton finding a way to resolve workplace issues and creating a positive workplace environment.
“You guys should truly be proud of yourselves — I am,” Commissioner Ronnie Maez said.“You guys are a true asset to Archuleta County.”
Commissioner Warren Brown also commented on the value of service that DHS provides to members of the community.
“I have dedicated eighteen years of my life to Archuleta County Department of Human Services. I have found professional growth along the way and wouldn’t trade my experiences for anything,” Shelton’s report states.
She explained that she will be staying on through September to help the transition.
“It’s not only the people I work with — they’re my family,” Shelton said.
clayton@pagosasun.com
