County department will move offices to Borden Building
By Matthew Whittle
Published in News on October 11, 2007 1:59 PM
Come Monday, the Wayne County Department of Social Services' child and adult protective services, and the other divisions currently housed in the annex building on U.S. 117, will reopen in their new home in downtown Goldsboro.
"We're making the move this week, and we'll be open for business on Monday," said social work supervisor Vickie Thompson.
The DSS offices will occupy the first, second and third floors of the Borden Building, with Eastpointe, the local mental health management agency, remaining in the top three.
Moving will be child and adult protective services and intake services, guardianship services, in-home aid services, adult care home licensing and monitoring services, enhanced case management services, adult in-home assistance case management and services for the blind.
Ms. Thompson explained that the department is hoping the move will be beneficial for both clients and employees.
"It's not giving us any more room, but it's a nice facility, and it's supposed to be a more secure facility. I think that's the main reason for moving," she said.
The annex is on the corner of Hooks River Road and U.S. 117 North, and she added, can be tricky to get to. The department has been there since August 1999.
"This has not been a real user-friendly place to get to," Ms. Thompson said. "It's not that far out of town. It's just hard to get to it. Being downtown will be more user-friendly."
It also will be more convenient for the nearly 60 employees, as it will be closer to such resources as the courthouse and guardian ad litem services.
To help facilitate the move, the annex will be closed on Friday and employees will spend the weekend packing and unpacking. Those who need to turn in reports on Friday, though, will still be able to call.
"We're looking forward to getting it done and starting life again. We've been packing for a month," Ms. Thompson said. "We're getting ready for business, beginning Monday morning at 8 a.m."
The new address will be 100 S. James St., but all the current phone numbers will remain the same.
County emergency management director Joe Gurley, who is coordinating the project, said the county has not decided yet how the annex will be utilized once DSS is moved.
"We've got some ideas, but nothing concrete. We've got some overcrowded buildings in different areas, so we need to look at staff patterns and space needs, and just try to make everything as efficient and effective as possible," he said.