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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Services Board - Minutes - 7/25/2013BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County EOC July 25, 2013 Board Members Present: Clarence Henkel, Pat Carver, Lona Schmidt, Deb Pyne, Bill Bussey, Jim Crandall, Harold Maki, Rusty Williams arrived @ 4:05; Dee Kittleson arrived @ 4:10 Board Members Absent: Others Present: Elizabeth Skulan, Nikki Revak, Carrie Linder, Jeanine Spuhler, Anita Haukaas Call to Order and Introductions Crandall called the meeting to order at 4:02 p.m. Emily Bainbridge introduced herself. Review of the June 27, 2013 Minutes Motion by Bussey, seconded by Henkel, to approve the minutes as presented. Motion passed unanimously. Williams resumed chair position at 4:05 p.m. Opportunity for Public Comment None Program Presentation – Senior Nutrition Programs, Aging & Disability Services, Emily Bainbridge Bainbridge gave an overview of the Elderly Nutrition program. The program offers tasty, nutritious meals to anyone age 60 and older. There are currently five congregate meal sites, plus Red Cliff in Bayfield County. Meals are served at: The Barnes Town Hall, 4 days per week, meals served range from six to 35 per meal; Washburn Time Out, 4 days per week; meals served range from 20 to 25 per meal; Port Wing School, once a week September through May, meals served range from 3 to 15 per meal; Iron River Community Center, once a month, meals served range from 90 to 130 per meal; Benoit Community Center, once a month, meals served range from 30 to 40 per meal; Red Cliff, five days per week, meals served average 25 per meal. Bainbridge visits each meal site monthly and provides educational updates on various topics. Bainbridge is also available to answer questions and provide referrals to other resources. The nutrition program offers more than just a meal. It provides socialization, nutritional education, outreach, referrals to other resources and services; and other opportunities. Takeout meals are BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County Board Room July 25, 2013 2 prohibited at the congregate meal sites. Exception to this are rarely allowed and then only when there are verifiable extenuating circumstances. It is a requirement that each participant is provided the opportunity to donate to the cost of the senior meal. The suggested donation is $2.50 for most meals. No one is denied a meal regardless of whether or not they fall within one of the program’s target populations or if they are willing or able to contribute to the cost of the meal. Home delivered meals rates for 2013 are $15.50 and congregate meal rates are $11.70 The Home Delivered Meals program serves individuals who are not ambulatory, have barriers to regularly attend a congregate meal site, and meet other eligibility criteria. Drivers deliver the meals to the participant’s door. The driver may be the only regular contact some individuals have. In these instances, the driver also provides regular wellness checks to the seniors. Over 1,750 pieces of information are distributed annually to the congregate meal and home delivered meal participants. This includes data regarding nutrition, health, and safety. “Nutrition Nibbles”, a nutritional newsletter from University of Wisconsin Extension office, is regularly distributed to senior meal participants. Bainbridge reported that of the 43 participants who attended the “Final Affairs” presentation, 10 were participants of the Bayfield County Elderly Nutrition Program. “Final Affairs” was marketed to Ashland and Bayfield residents through a variety of media. Board Members Henkel and Pyne commended Bainbridge for the exemplary work she does with the elderly. Pyne requested that Bainbridge speak to seniors at a regular Cable dining site, which is not a senior congregate meal site. Monthly Section Reports Support Services – Nikki Revak Kathy Wolfram and Revak completed the CFDA CARS Program Funding Sources for auditors. The auditors use the information to determine program compliance during the annual audit. Staff is working on the 2012 Annual Report updating various charts. Work continues on developing the 2014 Budget. Family Services – Anita Haukaas Juvenile justice referrals have decreased compared to this same time last year. Mental Health and AODA emergency detentions have increased from last year at this time, from 33 to 49. The number of Child Protective Service referrals is similar to last year. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County Board Room July 25, 2013 3 Because there are a number of new hires in law enforcement agencies throughout Bayfield County, Family Services staff is holding “meet and greet” meetings with several different agencies to review procedures. Cheryl Hanson and Haukaas attended a Synthetic Drug Coalition Meeting at Ashland County Health & Human Services (ACHHS). The coalition was facilitated by Sarah Uitto, a social worker for ACHHS. Hugo’s Pizza in Washburn has begun “The Big Buddy Program”. The business has partnered to provide area students and young adults with valuable work experience. Haukaas reported that a number of staff ordered lunch from Hugo’s today. The program delivers lunch to four Washburn businesses Wednesday through Friday each week. Economic Support Services – Jeanine Spuhler The county website has been updated with federal health insurance marketplace information. The toll free phone number (1-800-318-2596) is listed on the website. Applications for enrollment can be made beginning October 1, 2013. Advertisements have been issued to hire three limited term Income Maintenance employees to assist with the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The deadline for applications is July 28, 2013. The length of the employment is expected to be between eight and 22 months. Interviews are tentatively scheduled for August 6, 2013. Training for the implementation of the federal health care exchange will be held at the Rusk County Health and Human Services Department in Ladysmith in August for the Northern Income Maintenance Consortium (NIMC) staff and supervisors. Due to state band width issues, staff is dealing with extremely slow computer connections. This is adversely effecting call wait time. The Economic Support retreat will be held on July 31st at the Chequamegon Clinic in Ashland. Spuhler referred to the letter in the board packet from Bret Davis for the “outstanding performance in FoodShare payment accuracy in 2012”. NIMC had a payment accuracy rate of 100% for the sample of applications taken during the transition from county consortia IM program administration that were reviewed. A federal performance bonus was awarded to Wisconsin, a portion of which will be distributed to Income Maintenance consortia across the state. Aging & Disability Services – Carrie Linder Jeanne Waters started July 8th. Linder is transitioning the children with disabilities program cases to her. Linder remarked that even though she has supervised the program, it was good experience to have the day to day responsibility of the programs for a short time. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County Board Room July 25, 2013 4 Adult protection cases continue to increase. Recently there has been an increase in referrals for suspected financial exploitation by the appointed representative and/or family members. Staff is working with corporate counsel to determine how the cases will be handled and/or if anyone will be prosecuted. Aging and Disability Resource of the North (ADRC-N) Disability Benefit Specialist, Jamie Mackin continues to experience an increase in case load. Mackin provides service to residents of Ashland, Bayfield and Iron Counties. ADRC-N Disability Benefit Specialist, Lauri Perlick, provides service to residents of Sawyer and Price Counties. This program has already assisted numerous consumers in successfully obtaining a disability determination, which in turn provides an influx of revenue to the local economy. Staff worked on updating the Senior Resource Directory for Bayfield and Ashland County. The information will also be submitted to the ADRC-N coordinator to update ADRC-N website directory. Medical Transportation Management, Inc. (MTM) is the new non-emergency medical transportation broker for Wisconsin for Medicaid recipients. MTM will begin providing transportation on August 1, 2013. An MTM representative contacted Bayfield County to negotiate a contract for a volunteer driver pool. However, due to: the increased liability to Bayfield County; the limited volunteer driver pool currently available; and the fact that Bayfield County would need to use county levy to offset the cost of administering the program while MTM profits from providing the service , Bayfield County will not partner with MTM Inc. Monthly Reports Skulan reported that if the current trends continue, there are anticipated overages in the 2013 budget due to the cost of the following mandated services: mental health, substance abuse and substitute care. Linder added to the training list: Emily Bainbridge will attend the Healthy Aging Summit August 15th and 16th in Stevens Point. The monthly reports were reviewed and placed on file. Family Services Section Advisory Committee Appointments Skulan stated that Susan Davis and Mary Skerik’s terms expired in June. The Family Services Section Advisory Committee recommended that the board approve the reappointment of Davis and Skerik to the committee for another term. Motion by Crandall, second by Henkel, to approve Susan Davis and Mary Skerik for another term on the Family Services Section Advisory Committee. Motion passed unanimously. Income Maintenance Limited Term Staff – Review local plan and letter from Northern income Maintenance Consortium (NIMC) Fiscal Agent BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County Board Room July 25, 2013 5 Skulan referred to the July 9th letter from Wood County, the fiscal agent for NIMC. NIMC will hire 16.5 full-time equivalent limited term employees in the twelve-county region to implement Patient Protection Affordable Care (PPACA). Bayfield County will hire three limited term employees (LTE). The duration of employment is anticipated to be between eight and 22 months. The cost of the LTE’s will be funded with federal Act PPACA funds. Due to attrition and/or to increases in the workload after implementation, there may be some new workers in the region who will be offered permanent positions with NIMC. Employee Safety – Dog bite prevention Skulan reported that there were two recent dog bites involving a home delivered meal (HDM) driver. Linder reviewed the letter she issued to HDM recipients that reminds them to restrain their pets. A formal departmental procedure to assist employees in avoiding dog bites is being developed. 2014 Budget – Discussion regarding service needs Skulan reviewed the Human Services Program Sections mandated services list. Three sections have asked for increases to their spending levels. Income Maintenance: Economic Support will be hiring three limited term employees beginning in the fall of 2013. Those LTE’s will be funded with PPACA funds. This will not increase county levy. Aging and Disability: With sequestration and the 2010 Census, there will be a $27,000 annual reduction in state and federal funds for the senior nutrition programs. The Aging and Disability Advisory Committee supported a request for additional county levy to fill this gap in funding. An ongoing increase in Adult Protection Services reports and investigations of elder abuse, self- neglect and/or financial exploitation have resulted in an increase in staff time. As a result, there is less time for staff to perform tasks related to the Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) and it does not allow DHS to use available funding or to capture additional MA revenues. A request was made to hire one additional FTE dedicated to the ADRC. This position would cost approximately $65,000 and DHS could capture approximately $35,000 in additional funding to offset the cost. Another $30,000 in county levy would be needed to fund a full-time position. Family Services: The board reviewed the handout entitled “Compiled from Annual Reports & Preliminary 2012 Final”. For the past five years, aggregate expenses have exceeded the budget by approximately $200,000 in areas of substitute care, mental health and substance abuse – all mandated services The section is seeking an increase in county levy of $200,000. Skulan requested guidance from the DHS board particularly in regard to the proposed increases. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County Board Room July 25, 2013 6 DHS board members directed management staff to develop a 2014 budget that complies with the County Administrator directive for a zero increase budget. This should include three limited term Income Maintenance workers and a .5 FTE ADRC employee so long as there is no increase to the county levy. In addition, the board directed management to submit, on a separate request to the Executive Committee and attached to the budget, a narrative to request the funds as discusssed. Northern Bridges – Request for input Kittleson reported that NorthernBridges CEO John McMahon has tendered his retirement notice. McMahon will be done in November. NorthernBridges is seeking suggestions from interested stakeholders regarding the recruitment of a successor. Other (Informational Items) A. Long-Term Care District Board – Most recent minutes from Northern Bridges included in the board packet B. Letters of Intent to file Family Care RFP for the Northern Region – Community Care of Central Wisconsin; Southwest Care Alliance; Care Wisconsin C. 2014 Budget Input from Northwoods Women, Inc., d.b.a. New Day Shelter – Kathy Roper Future Meetings A. August 22, 2013 (2014 Budget Proposal Meeting) B. September 26, 2013 C. October 24, 2013 Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 6:00 p.m. Submitted by Nikki Revak, Financial Manager