Health and human services needs under review

By Eric Frazier
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Posted: Wednesday, Aug. 05, 2009

Weeks after the idea surfaced at a community meeting, top leaders from Mecklenburg County, the school board and City Council agreed Tuesday to craft a single strategic plan to attack the community's growing health and human services needs.

Leaders from all three bodies met Tuesday, along with officials from smaller Mecklenburg towns. They agreed that, in a time of shrinking budgets, the community needs a coordinated plan to tackle social problems such as homelessness, hunger and dropouts.

They stressed that their meeting amounted to little more than a preliminary talk about the strategic plan idea, first raised June 30 at a meeting community groups called to discuss the budget crunch facing charities this year.

The recession and banking crisis have pushed N.C. unemployment to record levels, and charities helping the disadvantaged say demands for help are soaring even as grants and donations falter. Last year's United Way campaign fell $15 million short of the 2007 total, for instance.

Carol Hardison, head of Crisis Assistance Ministry, noted at the June 30 meeting that Charlotte has drafted strategic plans for the arts and its infrastructure needs, but hasn't crafted a plan for human services.

Officials at Tuesday's meeting noted that the services offered by the city, county and the school system sometimes duplicate each other. Commissioner Harold Cogdell suggested realigning so a single agency stands responsible for handling any one issue.

But commissioner Vilma Leake expressed concern that grass-roots activists would be left out if power is consolidated. She said the “politically connected” will benefit. City Council member Warren Cooksey said streamlining services might not be easy, and added that “we'd be setting ourselves up for failure or setting (the plan) on a shelf collecting dust if it costs any more than what we're doing now.”

Maria Hanlin, head of Mecklenburg Ministries, and Willie Ratchford of the Community Relations Committee, suggested officials set aside three to six months for fact-finding.

Commissioner Dan Murrey and commissioners Chairman Jennifer Roberts led the meeting.

They said they want to break into smaller groups for more in-depth conversations and fact-finding.

Murrey said the focus will be on finding ways to collaborate “without busting our budgets” during a recession.

“This is a long-term process, not a short-term negotiation,” he said. “But we had to do something to get the conversation going, and I think we're doing that. We've got to keep it going.”