HomeMy WebLinkAboutFamily Services Advisory Committee - Minutes - 4/10/2018
BAYFIELD COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES
FAMILY SERVICES ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
Courthouse Conference Room A
Tuesday, April 10th, 2018 at 4:30 pm
Committee Members Present: John Blahnik, Bev Lindell, Dale and Nancy Johnson, Jeremy
Oswald, Bev Patterson and Susan Davis.
Committee Members Excused: Lona Schmidt.
Others Present: Cheryl Hanson (Family Services Section Manager), Elizabeth Skulan
(Bayfield County Department of Human Services Director) and Nina Bucher (Support Staff).
Call to order: Due to Lona’s absence (Committee Chairman), Jeremy Oswald acted as
Chairman for the meeting. Jeremy called the meeting to order at 4:30pm.
Public Comment Opportunity: No public comment.
FSAC Handbook: Due to the absence of the scheduled presenter, Cheryl told the group she
was creating an FSAC handbook and was looking for input as to what it should include.
Discussion was had covering what programs/services FS is responsible for, the processes that
are followed and why, FS philosophy and the “artwork” of creating working solutions for each
unique client situation, examples of cases with various elements, which departments/entities
FS collaborates with and how, and current critical issues facing the community. Through
planning and suggestions, the FSAC handbook will include: membership roles and
responsibilities; FS program descriptions; organizational chart of FS/Department employees;
inter-departmental County relationship descriptions; summary of Department accomplishments
and goals; trends in services/cost/funding; budget information; and an acronym glossary.
Much of this information is addressed in the latest Department Annual Report. The handbooks
will be issued when a new Committee member is approved, and returned when they leave.
The handbook will be available in a hard copy binder and electronically.
Family Services staffing update: Family Services is fully staffed! The two newest
employees are Susan Miller-full time Family Specialist and Marne Belanger-part time Social
Worker Aide. Both have jumped right in and are busy job shadowing, assisting, and training.
Red Cliff Indian Child Welfare (RCICW) update: Cheryl said the RCIW/FS relationship
continues to be healthy and they are working on defining roles of each when working on tribal
issues together. The new RCIW Director has brought renewed passion, along with funding to
increase staffing to handle the large workload. RCIW is creating a team for child
Minutes Approval: John made a motion, seconded by Bev P. to approve minutes from
the 1/9/18 FSAC meetings as written. Motion passed unanimously.
K:agenda&minutes/FSAC/mintes/2018/2018-04-10_FSAC_minutes-draft 2
abuse/neglect cases that includes Tribal doctors, legal personnel, law enforcement, and Cheryl
as the Bayfield County component.
Program updates: Elizabeth explained that Douglas County did not implement a
Comprehensive Community Services (CCS) program at it’s inception in 2015 and is now hoping
to join the Bayfield/Ashland regionalized program in January of 2019. CCS is a medical
assistance based mental health/substance abuse focused program that we contract with New
Horizons North to provide. The existing Bayfield and Ashland County Coordinating Committee
is in the process of adding Douglas County, who will use different providers yet share staff
training and required program committee meetings.
Northland Counseling of Ashland is opening a youth crisis bed service in the coming week that
will have three beds licensed to house youth that have traditionally had to be transported far
away due to their age. This will be a major community improvement keeping the troubled
youth closer to home for family involvement and lower transportation costs.
Cheryl relayed that Bayfield County has not had any youth appropriate to use Teen Court
recently. Teen Court is a joint effort of County departments whereby referrals from law
enforcement are received by Juvenile Justice workers who have the option of sending children
of alleged criminal activities to a jury of their peers.
Informational Items: A question was raised on staff protection, especially for the new
workers. Cheryl said new workers are trained and shadow experienced workers. All workers
have the option to bring another worker or law enforcement with them on potentially unsafe
home visits.
Future Meetings: Quarterly FSAC meeting dates will continue to be held at 4:30pm on the
second Tuesday of the month in January, April, July, and October. Future 2018 meeting dates
are 7/10/18, and 10/9/18.
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 5:37 pm.
Minutes respectfully submitted by,
Nina Bucher
Nina Bucher