HomeMy WebLinkAboutFamily Services Advisory Committee - Minutes - 3/21/2017 BAYFIELD COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES
FAMILY SERVICES ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING NOTES
Courthouse Conference Room A
Tuesday, March 21, 2017 at 4:30 pm
Committee Members Present: John Blahnik, Jeremy Oswald and Dale Johnson.
Others Present: Anita Haukaas, Heather Wagner and Nina Bucher from BCDHS.
Call to order and introductions: Due to the lack of a quorum, this meeting was purely informational
and began at 4:35pm.
Minute Approval: Minutes were read, but unable to be approved due to the lack of a quorum.
Public Comment Opportunity: No comments.
Program Presentation: “What is a Family Specialist?”: Anita introduced Heather Wagner, the
full-time Family Specialist for Bayfield County DHS who has just completed her third month on the job.
Heather said a Family Specialist is a parent aid who helps parents manage families/households
substance free in many ways. This may include but is not limited to helping to create a safe
environment for children, establishing routines, organizing the home, teaching skills, problem solving,
teaching how to make healthy nutrition and hygiene choices, helping access available
programs/supports, arranging transportation, setting reasonable expectations for parents and children,
and changing damaging behavior. The Family Specialist is referred by county social workers who are
working with families in open, ongoing child protective services cases. Heather goes to the homes and
works with the parents to first identify goals/needs, and then help them with the steps/structure to
reach the goals. She may oversee supervised visits of siblings/family members, go to court with the
family, or attend family functions. Heather enjoys her role is a family helper/child advocate, and she
has not met anyone unwelcoming yet.
FSAC Vacancy Recommendations: The Committee is looking for someone in the Cable area.
Arrowhead Juvenile Detention Center – Duluth, MN Update: The contract has been issued and
corporate counsel for both parties have worked through the Civil Rights requirement wording to make
it applicable for MN and WI, so now it is just a matter of signatures.
Family Services Section staffing update: Ben Sheppard has been hired as a CPS worker and
Melissa Huempfner as primarily a Juvenile Justice worker. Interviews are being held for a Social Worker
Intern to work with youth to find appropriate placements and focus on juvenile mental health. Anita
said that due to State run children’s institutions being closed, there are very few, if any, appropriate
providers to place a child coming out of an emergency placement with, especially young girls. This is
resulting in children returning to their family/community before they are ready, creating a potentially
unsafe situation. Anita has consulted with the State regarding this and says they have no answers
regarding this problem.
Red Cliff Indian Child Welfare (RCICW) update: Red Cliff Indian Child Welfare is currently fully
staffed with Leah Thaldorf as the Director, Gretchen Morris a Case Worker, and Crystal Topping the
Tribal Youth Advocate.
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Program Reports: Anita reported there have been 19 Emergency Detentions so far in 2017, the
Child Protective Services cases are mostly substance abuse (with mental health issues), and there were
six Juvenile Justice referrals in January and February 2017.
The Northern Region Crisis grant encompasses 15 counties and six tribes. The Crisis Helpline identifies
depression, suicide, and lack of services as the top issues for callers/texters in 2016.
Future Meetings: The future 2017 meetings are scheduled for 06/20/2017, 09/19/2017, 12/19/2017
at 4:30 pm. Anita suggested that since the December meeting date is always inconvenient, maybe the
Committee could meet quarterly in January, April, July, and October instead. This will be discussed at
the next meeting when a quorum is present.
Adjournment: The meeting was over at 5:45 pm.
Minutes respectfully submitted by,
Nina K Bucher
Nina K Bucher