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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Services Board - Minutes - 8/28/2014BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County EOC August 28, 2014 Board Members Present: Pat Carver, Bill Bussey, Fred Strand, Jim Crandall, John Bennett, Lona Schmidt, Rusty Williams Board Members Absent: Deb Pyne, Kent Seldal Others Present: Elizabeth Skulan, Nikki Revak, Carrie Linder, Anita Haukaas, Jeanine Spuhler, Mark Wilson Call to Order and Introductions Williams called the meeting to order at 4:02 p.m. Introductions were made. Review of the July 24, 2014 Minutes Motion by Strand, seconded by Crandall, to approve the minutes as presented. Motion passed unanimously. Program Presentation – FoodShare Fact VS. Fiction, Mark Wilson Economic Support Wilson is a Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) employee in the Economic Support Section at DHS. Wilson stated that because he had not previously worked in the public assistance sector, there was a lot to learn when he was hired. Wilson shared that he and his co-worker Colby, who assisted in developing the presentation, learned a number of things including: the importance of establishing a file date for a FoodShare application; the four ways customers may use to apply for FoodShare - paper application; online application; phone application; or a face to face meeting; the fastest way to complete an application is over the phone; one of the reporting requirements for FoodShare is that recipients must be at 130% or lower of the federal poverty level. FoodShare determinations take into account the total household income for individuals living under the same roof. The maximum amount of FoodShare for a single individual is $189 per month and $632 for a family of four. Not all stores accept FoodShare. Stores need to meet certain requirements. There are limitations as to what can be purchased with FoodShare. For instance, Individuals may not purchase personal care products, tobacco, alcohol or prepared deli food, to name a few. Statistically, 86% of eligible households participate in the FoodShare program. In Bayfield County, there are 777 active cases as of April. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County EOC August 28, 2014 2 Monthly Section Reports Family Services – Anita Haukaas Family Services held their annual meeting for Law Enforcement and the school systems today. Bayfield School District has had fewer referrals for behavior issues due to a new process for responding to students that includes ongoing and communication with the families. Family Services staff participated in a telephone conference with Community Care Connections of Wisconsin to discuss Family Care participants with behavioral health issues. One Family Services staff member is due back from leave on Wednesday, September 3, 2014. Work continues on the Comprehensive Community Services program. The target date for implementation and enrollment is October 1, 2104. Work continues on the Family Treatment Court. The next committee meeting is September 12, 2014. Aging & Disability Services – Carrie Linder DHS must spend the majority of its transportation trust fund, approximately $80,000, over the next three years. The 2015 DOT application will address how the funds will be used. Expenses must be incurred to provide transportation to older adults and the disabled. Linder attended the Age Wave workshop. Bayfield County will need to proactively plan for the needs of our aging population. Staff is working with a challenging case, which is a transition from a Chapter 51, mental health, to a Chapter 55, protective placement. Because each case is unique, there is no cookie cutter approach to solving problems or understanding the complex needs of individuals. Staff is working closely with Family Care to determine the best options for care for the individual. Board members discussed the possibility of an Iron River transport route three days a week provided by Bay Area Rural Transport (BART). Support Services – Nikki Revak Last Thursday, an eWiSACWIS Northern Financial Super User Meeting was hosted by DHS. Chris Partridge, Senior – IA Business Automation from the Department of Children & Families facilitated the meeting. Staff from Portage, Taylor, Oneida, Iron, Price, Lincoln, Sawyer, Marathon, Wood and Bayfield County attended. Last week the 2015 DHS Budget was completed and submitted within the parameters set forth by the County Administrator. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County EOC August 28, 2014 3 The DHS compliance section of the audit was completed this week. Support and other agency staff did a wonderful job in collecting information for the auditors. The agency bookkeeper was instrumental in assisting with the audit. It went very smoothly. Two support staff attended the SAMS 3.0 training for the Greater Wisconsin Agency on Aging Resources, Inc. Carrie Linder, Aging & Disability Supervisor, hosted the training which was held in the lower level Computer Lab. The two day training focused on Nutrition, Caregiver and All other services the first day and the second day attended Elderly Benefit Specialists (EBS) only. Various other counties attended the training. Revak and Skulan participated in a WEBCAST with other NIMC (Northern Income Maintenance Consortium) directors and staff. Sarah Koopman from the WREA (Western Region for Economic Assistance) consortium gave a presentation on their regionalized Child Care Program. It was a very informative meeting. Thursday the DHS Management team hosted a Salad Potluck. Great food and fun was had by all. Economic Support Services – Jeanine Spuhler Childcare regionalization plans are underway. The transition to regionalization is scheduled for January 1, 2015. It is estimated that 75% of eligible Bayfield County consumers received the benefit offered with the Summer Propane Fill program. Households received $300 of propane if they contributed $50 to a propane purchase. Friday, August 22, the State notified Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program (WHEAP) propane consumers that they are eligible to apply for the program early this year. More than half of the Bayfield County WHEAP consumers heat with propane. The State initiated a new website for WHEAP that will be used to process applications, but it is not ready yet. Applications must be held and then processed in the order that they were received for data entry once the system is available. It is estimated that the Website will be available after September 20th. Applications must be processed within 30 days of receipt. Monthly Reports The monthly reports were reviewed and placed on file. Aging and Disability Services Committee Appointment – Ron Stauske Linder reported that Verne Gilles completed his second term on the Aging and Disability Services Committee and cannot participate on the committee without a break in service. Ron Stauske submitted an application for the vacancy. Staff recommended Ron’s appointment to the committee to the DHS board. Motion by Carver, second by Schmidt, to approve the appointment of Ron Stauske to the Aging and Disability Services Committee. Motion passed unanimously. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County EOC August 28, 2014 4 Citizen Action of Wisconsin Letter to State Department of Health Services (DHS) Secretary Regarding BadgerCare – Fred Strand Strand reported that the state estimates effective April 1, 2014 were that 38,000 Wisconsin residents were unable to sign up for a marketplace health plan after being transitioned out of the Badger Care Program. A number of supervisors in over 20 counties statewide requested that Secretary Rhoades provide data that quantified affected individuals in a county-by-county format for planning and budgeting purposes. No response has been received by Secretary Rhoades. Treatment Outcome Data 2009 – 2013 Skulan reviewed the data presented to the full County Board at their July meeting. Staffing Updates – Notice of Resignation Skulan reported the following updates: 1. Emily Bainbridge submitted her resignation effective September 4. Bainbridge has accepted a position as an Assistant Clinical Director in Bad River. 2. Lacie Prenderville submitted a 30 day notice. Prenderville has accepted a position in St. Cloud, Minnesota. She will be working as an adoption coordinator. 3. Jack Holevatz has accepted the .5 FTE Aging and Disability Resource Center of the North Call Center regional position. Holevatz currently holds a .5 FTE Information and Assistance position with the ADRC-Bayfield. Bainbridge’s vacancy is posted and application deadline is September 7th. Skulan and Haukaas are working on the posting for Prenderville’s position. Schmidt reported that DHS members received a letter from a DHS staff member in the Family Services Section. Neither Skulan nor Haukaas had seen the letter previously. Changes to the Intoxicated Driver Program – Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (DMHSAS) Informational Memo 2014 -04 Skulan reviewed the above memo dated 8-2014 highlighting the changes in the process that will occur. Tribes will be allowed complete assessments and plans with their tribal members. Revenue received for fines paid by individuals for operating under the influence would then be diverted and sent directly to the tribe for those. 2015 Budget Presentation Skulan reported that the DHS budget was developed per instructions issued by the County Administrator. This included no levy increase from the 2014 base and a decrease of the $175,000 one-time funding afforded to DHS in the 2014 budget. DHS is able to bridge the reduction in county levy proposed in 2015 because agency management and support overhead and indirect costs are allowable and can be claimed on PPACA employees. As a result, DHS is cautiously optimistic about the 2015 Budget. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County EOC August 28, 2014 5 Motion by Bussey, second by Carver to approve the budget as presented. Motion passed unanimously. Other (Informational Items) A. Silver Alert Program Notice B. Division of Energy Services (DES) Administrative Review Completion Notice C. Tribal High Cost Pool Award Future Meetings A. September 23, 2014 B. October 23, 2014 C. December 2, 2014 (November/December combined meeting – begin with potluck) Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 5:14 p.m. Submitted by Nikki Revak, Financial Manager