HomeMy WebLinkAboutFamily Services Advisory Committee - Minutes - 12/15/2015
BAYFIELD COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES
FAMILY SERVICES ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
Courthouse Conference Room A
Tuesday, December 15th, 2015 at 4:30 pm
Committee Members Present: Bev Lindell, Susan Davis, Ann Green, Jim Crandall, John Blahnik,
Nancy and Dale Johnson.
Committee Member Excused: Lona Schmidt.
Others Present: Anita Haukaas, Crystal Clark-Gregoire, Heather Gilbertson and Nina Bucher from
BCDHS; Denise Carlson from Red Cliff.
Call to order and introductions: In Lona’s absence, Anita called the meeting to order at 4:30 pm
and introductions were made.
Minute Approval: Ann made a motion to approve minutes from the 9/15/15 FSAC meeting as written.
Bev seconded the motion. Motion passed.
Public Comment Opportunity: John brought in a newspaper article about the abuse/neglect
investigation going on at Lincoln Hills (a WI juvenile corrections facility for males) to make sure the
Committee was aware of it. Bev said the League of Women Voters group she is a member of is
compiling a report on economic inequality in our County and hoped Family Services would be a
resource with helpful statistics. Anita expressed that she should have some comparable information to
last year at the next meeting in March.
Juvenile Court Intake Presentation: Crystal described the juvenile court intake procedure in
Bayfield County through a power point presentation. Juvenile court intake services are mandated by
the State to deal with juvenile delinquency (10-16 year olds) while protecting the public/victims and
enforcing accountability in a just manner. The juvenile intake worker provides screenings, interviews,
crisis counseling, and assessment to determine the best course of action for the offender. They then
make a recommendation of action that may include: case closure, deferred prosecution agreement
(DPA), or court referral. A DPA is a behavior plan to be followed for a defined length of time (usually
three-six months) that is voluntary and includes certain conditions such as restitution, community
service, counseling, curfew, and Teen Court. If the youth successfully completes the DPA, the case
may be closed and never reach the County Court system.
Teen Court is a program run by Human Services, the UW Extension, and the Court system. The Teen
Court panel is made up of youth, 16-18 years old, from five area schools who apply with references
and are selected by the team or Teen Court Coordinators. Panel members take an oath of
confidentiality and hear, deliberate, and assign a course of action (behavior plan like a DPA) to cases in
an actual courtroom setting. The Juvenile Intake Worker has the option to refer first time, non-felony
crime offenders to Teen Court.
Family Services Section staffing update: Interviews for a 50% time Family Services Social Work
Aide were held on Friday. This position will enter data into the eWISACWIS program, set up and
supervise visits, along with other support needed in the Family Services.
The Family Services annual staff retreat was held at the Blue Wave in Ashland on 9/21/15. They
developed goals and improvement plans for a good working atmosphere.
K:agenda&minutes/FS/mintes/2015/2015-12-15_FSAC_minutes-draft 2
Two Family Services workers must receive their Social Work certification within the next two years by
completing five courses. The cost of each class runs $1,200-$1,300 and the closest access point is in
Wausau. Peppy, BCDHS Director, had attempted to help the students with a tuition financing plan that
was turned down by the County Administrator/Board for several reasons. Additional attempts to
access the classes online or at a closer location are ongoing. In the meantime, the workers must travel
to Wausau to attend these required classes.
Red Cliff Indian Child Welfare update: Chris from Red Cliff ICW sent a report to Anita that stated
the relationship between Bayfield County and Red Cliff was good and they will attempt to hold staffing
meetings to discuss mutual cases every other month.
Anita added that Red Cliff Judge, Steven Boulley and Heather Deragon met with Bayfield County Judge
Anderson and Denise Nordin to discuss jurisdiction and Family Treatment Court. Anita is currently
working on the 161 Agreement for 2016.
Mental Health/AODA Services update: Family Treatment Court is currently working with three
families and has not heard about funding for 2016. 26 people are enrolled in the CCS program and 22
in CSP. There have been 65 emergency detentions year to date which is high.
A new mandate for mid-2016 requires people in the process of being emergency detained (ED’d) (or
held for 72 hours) must be assessed by a Mental Health professional. Anita and Peppy have met with
Northland Counseling to see if they could provide this service because the County does not have any
qualified staff who meet the professional criteria by the State, to perform this duty. Northland
Counseling has tentatively agreed to provide this service until they know how much time it will take,
and therefore what they would charge us for it.
Child Protective Services update: Anita provided a memo from the WI DOJ stating that they are
currently providing trainings to Wisconsin County’s law enforcement and Child Protective Services
agencies in an evidence based protocol for Child Abuse cases. Therefore the DOJ would not be funding
any out of state trainings on the topic. In the past staff attended the First Witness training in Duluth.
Courtney attended the training and the State covered mileage, meals, and lodging.
Juvenile Justice Update: As of 12/15/15, Bayfield County has had 58 juvenile justice referrals.
Informational Items: A Holiday Appreciation Dinner honoring Foster, Kinship, and Relative care
providers was donated by the Bear Paw Café in Port Wing on 12/9/15. Santa was in attendance with
community donated gifts for the children!
Future Meetings: Future FSAC meeting dates are 3/15/16, 6/21/16, 9/20-16 & 12/20/16.
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 5:51 pm.
Minutes respectfully submitted by,
Nina Bucher
Nina Bucher
