HomeMy WebLinkAboutFamily Services Advisory Committee - Minutes - 4/10/2019
BAYFIELD COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES
FAMILY SERVICES ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
Courthouse Conference Room A
Wednesday, April 10th, 2019 at 4:30 pm
Committee Members Present: Lona Schmidt, Jeremy Oswald, Bev Lindell, Bev Patterson,
Nancy and Dale Johnson.
Committee Members Excused: Susan Davis.
Others Present: Cheryl Hanson (Family Services Section Manager), Elizabeth Skulan (BCDHS
Director) and Nina Bucher (Support Staff).
Call to order: Lona called the meeting to order at 4:30 and determined introductions were
not necessary.
Public Comment Opportunity: No public comment.
Current Youth Justice Issues in Bayfield County Presentation: Due to the intended
presenter, Richard Kamm, being called away on an emergency, Cheryl gave an overview of the
topic with a 2018 summary handout Richard had prepared. Juvenile Justice addresses children
17 ½ years old and under who commit delinquent acts. Law enforcement cannot arrest
juveniles, so a social worker is on call 24/7 to assess the situation, taking into account
extenuating circumstances and the safety of the child/community. The social worker may let
the child go home or detain the child in a juvenile detention center since children cannot go to
the local jail with adults. The closest juvenile facilities are in Duluth, Eau Claire, or Wausau. A
hearing in person or via video/telephone must be held within 72 hours to determine whether
the child will go to court, enter a deferred prosecution agreement, a consent decree, or go
home/placed out of home. The social worker confers with the parents/guardians, teachers,
judge, therapists on what the best plan is for the child, then follows through with a
recommendation to the judge. The trend has been increased seriousness of offenses and
Richard Kamm will present more details at the July meeting.
Committee Membership: Cheryl shared that John Blahnik has retired from the Committee
and his term would need to be filled. She said she would send a thank you card to John for his
years of service. While it would be nice to have representation from southern Bayfield County,
it is not necessary. It was mentioned that NorthLakes Community Clinic had Board members
interested in serving on community groups and Cheryl said she would reach out to them.
Cheryl handed out the position description for citizen members. Applications for citizen
board/committee membership can be found on the Bayfield County website under
employment or be requested from the County.
Staffing Update: Rebecca Kruit has taken a child protective services job in North Dakota to
be closer to her grandchildren. Her position has been advertised, but no qualified candidates
Minute Approval: Bev L. made a motion to approve the October 2018 and January
2019 minutes as submitted. Bev P. seconded the motion and the motion carried.
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have applied yet. Two new positions for a clinical mental health professional and service
facilitators have been posted for the newly acquired CCS program starting May 1.Cheryl
handed out the job postings for all openings. Details and application instructions can be found
on the Bayfield County website under employment.
Program reports:
Comprehensive Community Support (CCS): Cheryl relayed that the County will be taking
over the CCS program previously sub-contracted to New Horizons North as of May 1st, 2019.
The main goals are to maintain continuity of services for participants, expand the program to
more than the current 34 clients, especially with services for children, and make the program
sustainable.
Community Support Program (CSP): Northland Counseling has smoothly taken over CSP
earlier this year from New Horizons North. Northland Counseling has experience with this
program as they provide services for Sawyer County’s CSP.
Emergency Detentions (ED): ED numbers are down so far for 2019.
Substitute Care: Out of home placement costs are under $100,000 year to date. A couple
costly placement clients will be aging out, or turning 17, this year which allows them to
apply/transition to Family Care (a Long Term Care program for adults). Elizabeth shared that
although it has been medically proven that a 17 year old’s mind is not mature enough to make
adult decisions, raising the legal juvenile ceiling to 18 years would need to be accompanied by
state funding in order to make counties capable of service provision.
Foster Care: Two new foster homes are being certified yet there is a shortage in Bayfield
County, especially in the Cable area. Please refer any potential Bayfield County Foster Home
providers to Stacy Schmidt in Family Services. (715-373-6144, ext. 120 or
sschmidt@bayfieldcounty.org.
Other: A formal resolution from the FSAC recommending an increase in social worker wages
to the Human Services Board will be created for approval at the July FSAC meeting. This will
be done to remain competitive and attract quality qualified workers to Bayfield County.
Discussion took place on the New Horizons North situation with the result of a hopeful outlook
for the future of the CSP and CCS programs.
Future Meetings: Future meeting dates are quarterly on the second Wednesday of the
month at 4:30pm: July 10th and October 9th, 2019.
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 5:35 pm.
Minutes respectfully submitted by,
Nina Bucher
Nina Bucher