HomeMy WebLinkAboutFamily Services Advisory Committee - Minutes - 7/8/2020BAYFIELD COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES
FAMILY SERVICES ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
Courthouse Conference Room B
Wednesday, July 8th, 2020 at 4:30 pm
Committee Members Present via telephone: Wayne Crozier, Lona Schmidt, Bev
Patterson, Nancy and Dale Johnson.
Committee Members Excused: Bev Lindell.
Committee Members Absent: Mary Dougherty.
Others Present: Stacy Schmidt (Foster and Kinship Care Coordinator), Cheryl Hanson (Family
Services Section Manager, (Support Staff).
Introductions and Call to order: After Cheryl relayed who was in attendance, Lona called
the meeting to order at 4:38.
Public Comment Opportunity: No public comment.
Foster Care in Bayfield County: Stacy explained she has been a social worker with Bayfield
County for 11 years and is now the Foster Care and Kinship Care Coordinator. She licenses all
the foster homes in the County, except those on the Red Cliff reservation that are licensed
through Red Cliff Indian Child Welfare. Both Kinship and Foster care are out of home
placements, with Kinship care being placed with a relative and getting a small monthly dollar
amount to help with costs. A larger monthly amount is paid to Foster homes, because they
require extensive training, background checks and license requirements. Although Red Cliff
places the native children, Bayfield County is the fiscal agent that pays for all the placements
in the County (manages the funding). There are currently 10 foster homes in Bayfield County
(mostly in the Iron River/Oulu area) and 30 on the Red Cliff reservation. Currently, more foster
homes are needed in the Washburn and southern part of the County. Statistics for May 2020
show 51 children (34 families) in out of home placement at a cost of approximately $46,200.
Face-to face visits with the children are required monthly, although some have been allowed
to take place via video/telephone during the COVID-19 crisis. The children are technically in
the custody of Bayfield County so must be sure they are in safe situations.
Staffing Update: Cheryl reported that Chris Beirl took a lateral move from Family Specialist
to CCS Program Facilitator, Presley Nuutinen was hired as the new Family Specialist, Jenn
Dietrich has reduced her CCS Program Facilitator hours to part time, and Tom Croteau starts
on July 27th as the new CCS Program Manager. The AODA Social Worker and vacant CCS
Program Facilitator openings are currently in the interviewing stage.
Minute Approval: Dale made a motion to approve the October 2019 and January
2020 FSAC meeting minutes as written. Wayne seconded the motion and the
motion passed.
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Program reports: Child Abuse and Neglect reports continue to require face-to-face contact
by staff during the pandemic and are on the rise. There are currently three challenging teen
placements in Youth Justice. The number of mental health and substance abuse non-voluntary
hospitalization cases has ballooned. It has been increasingly difficult to find permanent
placements for out-of-home children during the pandemic.
Other Informational Items: Cheryl said there was no field work being done in the outbreak
areas.
Future Meetings: Future meetings will continue quarterly on the second Wednesday of the
month on October 14, 2020 and January 13th, 2021.
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 5:10 pm.
Minutes respectfully submitted by,
Nina Bucher
Nina Bucher
-minutes approved at 10/14/20 FSAC meeting