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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Services Board - Minutes - 10/27/2011BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC, Bayfield County Annex October 27, 2011, K: Agenda & minutes/DHS Board/2011/2011-10-27_DHS_Board_meeting_minutes Board Members Present: Clarence Henkel, Rusty Williams, Kenneth Jardine, Lona Schmidt, Pat Carver, Jim Crandall, Bill Bussey arrived @ 3:08 Board members absent: Ted Benson, Dee Kittleson Others Present: Elizabeth Skulan, Nikki Revak, Jeanine Spuhler, Carrie Linder Anita Haukaas Call to Order and Introductions K. Jardine called the meeting to order at 3:01 p.m. Review of the September 22, 2011 Minutes Motion by P. Carver, seconded by C. Henkel to approve the minutes as presented. Motion carried. Opportunity for Public Comment – No comments Program Presentation – Aging and Disability Services, Medicare Part D Update, Sheila Mack Bayfield County Elderly Benefit Specialist, Sheila Mack, gave an overview on Medicare and SeniorCare. Medicare Part A (hospitalization insurance) pays hospital bills and certain skilled nursing facility expenses. Medicare Part B (medical insurance) pays doctors’ bills and certain other charges. A Medicare Advantage plan, also known as Part C, provides coverage through private insurance plans. Medicare Part D is the program created by the federal government to provide assistance for outpatient prescription drug costs. Medicare Part D, 2011 open enrollment is earlier this year, October 15 to December 7, 2011. This is the time for consumers to evaluate their current plan to see if it will still cover their prescription costs in 2012. SeniorCare is a prescription drug assistance program for Wisconsin residents who are 65 years of age or older who meet certain eligibility criteria. If seniors need assistance, they should contact the Aging and Disability Resource Center of the North at 1-866-663-3607, extension 221 for Sheila Mack. Monthly Section Reports Aging & Disability Services – Carrie Linder Open enrollment for Medicare Part D is underway. The open enrollment period is October 14, - December 7, 2011. C. Linder participated in a Birth-to-Three meeting with early childhood educators. This was a wonderful opportunity to discuss the processes with transition planning conferences, what is required, what is not required and how to better communicate with families. The Caregiver Conference was held at the AmericInn in Ashland on October 24th, over 70 people attended. The conference focused on Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. “Consider the Conversation” will be held on November 13at the Great Lakes Visitor Center from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. They will begin with a documentary and then follow up with an open forum with a panel to discuss taking care of personal finances and Power of Attorney (POA) heath care. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC, Bayfield County Annex October 27, 2011 K: Agenda & minutes/DHS Board/2011/2011-10-27_DHS_Board_meeting_minutes 2 The Children’s Long Term Waiver third party administrator (TPA) rollout will begin on December 1, 2011. Provider information with units and rates have been compiled and sent to the TPA. There will be a Webcast for providers on November 30th detailing the billing process. Economic Support Services – Jeanine Spuhler October 1, a local call center was implemented to prepare for the regionalization of Income Maintenance programs on January 1, 2012. The intent is to introduce the public to the call center concept, to gain efficiencies, and to maintain service delivery while changing the way in which we do business. Processing applications for fuel assistance with Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program (WHEAP) continues. WHEAP checks have not been processed by the state yet; this delay was due in fact because the state had not yet received the final allocation of funds from the federal government. Family Services –Anita Haukaas E. Skulan reported for A. Haukaas. A meeting with Memorial Medical Center was held to discuss MMC rates; MMC is not willing to reduce rates to Bayfield and/or Ashland County. Family Services staff continues to participate in the daily staffing of Bayfield County clients with MMC. Another rate meeting is scheduled for December 7th. Out of home placements costs are rising due in part to the needs of children with Autism spectrum disorders. We have a number of children reaching adolescence who are unable to control their emotions, and whose behaviors are escalating. Parents don’t want their children to leave home but do not have the ability to care for these children without additional resources. Two youth have graduated from the youth mentoring, CAUSEWAY program. Accountability continues to be an issue with youth participating in the CAUSEWAY program, so some incentives are built into the next fiscal year. Discussions continue with Family Service staff and CAUSEWAY coordinators as to when it is appropriate to bring the youth back to court due to a lack of participation. On call workers are very busy on the weekends now that school is back into session. Support Services – Nikki Revak Support staff has completed the training for scanning Income Maintenance and W-2 client documents into the state system. These duties have been assigned to support staff to help ease the workload for the Economic Services unit as we prepare for IM regionalization. The fourth quarter, year-end report has been completed for the CAUSEWAY grant. Work is underway to modify budget for the remaining year of the grant budget. Support staff has teamed with Family Service staff and Aging and Disability staff to account for the different funding sources for children that are in out-of-home placement and on the children’s long term waiver programs. It was a long and tedious task but we now have a process in place. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC, Bayfield County Annex October 27, 2011 K: Agenda & minutes/DHS Board/2011/2011-10-27_DHS_Board_meeting_minutes 3 Monthly Reports The monthly financial, training, and waiting list reports were reviewed and placed on file. It appears right now that we will be over budget in 2011 and will need to present a budget resolution at the December meeting. Update Income Maintenance Regional Model – Update on information received regarding the development of regional services E. Skulan reported that the application for the Northern IM Consortium was submitted on September 30th and that it included two waivers. One waiver is to reduce the requirement to have all sites open 35 hours per week for lobby services; the other waiver is to reduce the required 12 month notice to discontinue the Income Maintenance program. The State is interested in working with the Northern IM Consortium and has indicated that they are willing to make reasonable accommodations. A few counties in the Northern IM Consortium have initiated local call/change centers. By December 1, 2011, the following changes will go into effect for all 12 counties in the northern consortium: Scan first – documents will be scanned before clients meet with an IM worker; IM staff will be trained and begin using the Client Scheduling software; IM staff will be trained to use uniform case notes. Superior Days – Update on planning for 2012 Super Days E. Skulan reported that she, J. Spuhler and Nikki Revak will attend the Superior Days issues meeting tonight at 7:00 in Superior. Family Care Enrollment Cap and the Regionalization of Income Maintenance are the Human Services issues that will be introduced. Long-term Care District Board – Standing agenda item, update from Dee Kittleson regarding activities and information from the long-term care district board. D. Kittleson reported that NorthernBridges is working with the 11 counties served by NorthernBridges to ensure that consumers are removed off the wait list in a timely manner. Dee reported that a number of consumers are dis-enrolling from NorthernBridges and are enrolling into the IRIS program. Other (Informational Items) E. Skulan reported that she received a very nice e-mail from Deb Morris for a presentation provided to the eleven Tribes regarding Income Maintenance Services at the Legendary Waters Resort in Red Cliff. Future Meetings Future meeting dates were scheduled as follows: A. December 6, 2011 (combined November/December meeting – will begin with a potluck at 3:45) B. January 26, 2012 C. February 23, 2012 Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 4:55 p.m. Submitted by Nikki Revak, Financial Manager