SALISBURY — Rowan County commissioners and staff members on Monday expressed displeasure about new state requirements for the Department of Social Services.

The requirements were issued by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services in a memorandum of understanding that all counties must enter into annually.

This year’s agreement will require the Rowan County DSS to meet certain performance measures or face consequences that could include state technical assistance, a loss of funding or a state takeover of the department paid for on the county’s dime.

Donna Fayko, social services director, said she has problems with some of the standards because they are “based on many factors beyond the control of the county.”

One standard requires that 41 percent of children entering the foster care system be discharged to permanent living arrangements within 12 months.

“We have to take into consideration some things that are impacting our community,” said Fayko, referring to the opioid epidemic.

Substance abuse treatment is highly individualized, she said, and one year is not a realistic time frame for full recovery from substance abuse.

Other factors that could set the county behind in this goal would be delays or continuances in the court system, she said.

Another standard requires that the rate of placement moves per 1,000 days in foster care not exceed 4.1 percent.

That goal is simply unrealistic for children with behavioral or mental health needs, as foster care parents are rarely trained to address these specialized needs, she said.

“Our system is based upon a child failing up,” she said, explaining that a child in foster care would receive more intense, individualized treatment once behavioral or mental health problems are identified.

Other unreasonable standards deal with children re-entering the system and child support, she said.

“To me, that’s a really big burden for DSS or the county to bear, because we can’t control human behavior,” Fayko said.

County Manager Aaron Church said that meeting some of the standards could negatively affect children in the care of the department.

County Attorney Jay Dees agreed.

“What are people going to do to make these numbers? That’s the scary thing,” Dees said. “You’re putting professionals in a position of either losing funding or making decisions that are contrary to their own goal, to their own moral compass.”

Commissioner Craig Pierce likened the memorandum to extortion.

“They’re saying you either sign this document or you don’t get any money,” Pierce said. “We can’t take care of our services if we don’t have the finances to do it. … They say that’s legal?”

Commissioner Judy Klusman said the bill was crafted in secret over many months without any input from county officials.

“That’s how you get a really bad bill,” Klusman said. “… Unfortunately, what this really is is one legislator’s personal desires for the system. … She wants it perfect.”

Perfect is not achievable, said Klusman, adding that she expects a “ginormous mess” when all counties fail to meet every standard.

“The problem is, how much money are they going to take away from us, and how long is it going to take to get it back?” she asked.

In the end, the commissioners agreed to sign the memorandum but included a signing statement that addressed their concerns and requested more financial assistance to meet the identified goals.

In other business from Monday’s agenda:

• The commissioners scheduled a public meeting about a six-month moratorium on campground and RV park expansions and construction.

The hearing is scheduled at 3 p.m. Aug. 6. The moratorium will allow planning staff to revise zoning ordinances for the businesses.

• The board appointed eight people to three local boards.

The appointments included Maurice Hendrick to the ABC Board; Christopher Scott Flowers, Carol Ann Houpe, Taron Lilly and Isaac Miller to the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council; and Nancy Brandt, Juanita Woods and Shari Keller to the Region F Aging Advisory Committee.