In a split 3-2 vote, the majority of county commissioners voted in favor of adding the roles, which will cost $240,200 combined, at a Sept. 17 meeting.
Explaining the roles
CPS is struggling to fill positions throughout Texas to keep up with case demands, about 200 of which are in Williamson County, Precinct 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey said.
To fix the issue, a committee that Covey is on proposed adding a Legal Assistant II to the county attorney’s office for $78,200. Additionally, her proposal included adding two care coordinators contracted through Bluebonnet Trails at $81,000 each.
All three positions will last for the next year, and funding will be pulled from the American Rescue Plan Act.
How we got here
The Legal Assistant II position will improve functionality within cases, Covey said. Currently, case workers struggle with typing up a judge’s court order fast enough to have them, and other involved parties, sign it before leaving the room, Covey said.
She said the county previously approved $200,000 to help with legal costs and outside attorneys. Covey hopes to cut down on the hours the county is getting billed for outside attorneys with the three new positions, she said.
“Right now we have an issue, and I believe that with ... just $40,000 dollars more than we’ve spent on more attorney fees, we could move the needle,” Covey said.
In five to six years, the state might privatize aspects of CPS, and some additions, such as the care coordinator roles, would be part of the privatization process, Covey said.
At an upcoming meeting with the state, she said she will find out if that process can be sped up.
On the other hand
County Judge Bill Gravell and Precinct 1 Commissioner Terry Cook voted against adding the three positions.
Gravell said he was troubled with the behind-the-scenes process of getting the new positions added, as he had only heard about the proposal recently.
Furthermore, Gravell said he didn’t recall any ARPA positions previously added that weren’t eventually full-time positions coming out of Williamson County’s fund, and he questioned where to pull the money from when the ARPA funds run out.
“What we’re doing is another quarter-of-a-million-dollar Band-Aid to solve poor leadership decisions at the state level in relation to Child Protective Services,” Gravell said. “I’m troubled, again, that we’re solving the state’s problem, and I’m troubled that we’re not going through our normal process.”
Gravell said there are legitimate concerns and problems that need to be addressed within the CPS system.
“The truth is, we don’t have a problem in the area of CPS,” Gravell said. “Williamson County is doing its job. The state of Texas is the one with the problem in CPS.”
Going forward
In the future, commissioners can discuss options for more permanent funding for the three positions if they’re effective, Covey said.
When the time comes, Covey is prepared to pitch for the positions’ funding to come out of the Tobacco Fund, which has been earning interest, she said.
“If this moves the needle for the few years that we haven’t privatized yet, I think that that would be a great resource there to use, and it doesn’t have to go to the general budget,” Covey said.
