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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Services Board - Minutes - 10/23/2014BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County EOC October 23, 2014 Board Members Present: Rusty Williams, Pat Carver, Bill Bussey arrived @4:03, Fred Strand, Jim Crandall, John Bennett, Lona Schmidt, Deb Pyne @ 4:01, Kent Seldal Board Members Absent: None Others Present: Elizabeth Skulan, Nikki Revak, Carrie Linder, Jeanine Spuhler, Jack Holevatz left @ 4:25 Call to Order and Introductions Williams called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. Introductions were made. Review of the September 23, 2014 Meeting Minutes Motion by Crandall, seconded by Carver, to approve the minutes as presented. Motioned passed unanimously. Public Comment – Limited to 3 minutes per person No comment. Program Presentation – Aging and Disability Resource Center Regional Duties – Aging and Disability Services Specialist Jack Holevatz, Aging and Disability Services Section A new position was created in the Aging and Disability Resource Center of the North (ADRC-N) for a regional Information and Assistance (I&A) Call Center staff person. This position is currently split between Sarah Uitto from Ashland County and Jack Holevatz from Bayfield County. Holevatz stated that with having primary staff in the position, there is more consistency with the flow of the work and information. Holevatz reported that all of the demographic and pertinent consumer information is collected and recorded in Nightingale Notes. Nightingale Notes is used to track consumer information. All five counties in the ADRC-N have access to the data. If applicable, referrals are made to the appropriate county. Individuals are connected with resources that meet their needs. The regional staff frees up time for other I&A staff from the five counties to work directly with consumers. Anyone can contact the ADRC-N. The ADRC-N will be advertising for an additional full-time I&A Call Center regional staff person. Holevatz is currently working as a .50 FTE for the ADRC-Bayfield local office and .5 FTE as an ADRC-N Regional as an Intake and Assistance worker. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County EOC October 23, 2014 2 Monthly Section Reports Support Services – Nikki Revak The 2015 budget was revised to incorporate the zero increase in the health insurance costs. This revision was cost neutral to DHS. The revision will be reviewed later in the meeting. The Wisconsin Medicaid Cost Report (WIMCR) was completed and submitted to the state. With the new reporting system, there were some challenges. Questions were forwarded to the State and they have promised that modifications will be made in the future. The annual Aging Unit Budget has been completed. Linder will review and assist Revak in making adjustments if needed. The management team sponsored Caramel Apple Sundaes with DHS staff. Next year more ice cream is needed! This was a big hit with staff. Economic Support Services – Jeanine Spuhler Spuhler reported that 29 working days into the 2014-2015 Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program, 44% of the applications has been completed compared to last year at the same time. Approximately 340 applications have been entered in the new state system. Staff has done a wonderful job and in spite of the system not being available immediately to enter applications, timelines were met. Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs) are FoodShare recipients who are subject to time-limited benefits if they fail to meet special eligibility requirements. The State has delayed the implementation of the new eligibility requirements until April 1, 2015. Staff is ramping up for the Marketplace enrollment. Recruitment is currently being done for another limited term employee to address the larger volume of work due to the Affordable Care Act. Family Services – Anita Haukaas Year to date there have been 56 referrals for children. This is more than last year but fewer than in 2012. Most of the referrals have been for delinquent acts. Family Services staff is working with Aging and Disability staff on one high needs child. Staff is struggling to find a new placement. Family Services staff is short staffed with one vacancy, vacations and one staff person out on Family Medical Leave. Children are back in school and tend to get in to more trouble this time of the year. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County EOC October 23, 2014 3 A small amount of money will be used to purchase substance abuse materials this year. DHS is partnering with Darrell Pendergrass from the Washburn Library to purchase these materials at a discount. This is very good community collaboration. Aging & Disability Services – Carrie Linder Due to Emily Bainbridge’s resignation, Linder presented at the Caregiver Conference held in Ashland. Linder served on a panel with a variety of other professionals on an Aging/Dementia Seminar. Discussion focused on building a dementia friendly community. Over 90 people attended the program. Patti Carver is a leader for the Stepping on Program. There are nine individuals in this session. This program is designed for adults over 60 that have a fear or are in danger of falling. The program teaches skills that prevent falls. We appreciate Carver’s willingness to become a leader of this wonderful program. Northern Lights Services therapy staff is interested in becoming leaders. Additional funds were secured to have two therapists attend train the trainers program. A high needs child that is served by both Family Services and Aging & Disability staff will be moved to a different placement. This is a challenging case and staff has worked hard to secure funds to meet the needs of this child. Dana Denker, the B-3 service coordinator shared by Ashland and Bayfield counties, has accepted another position and has tendered her resignation. Denker will continue to work on a part-time basis. She will focus on new referrals. This is an Ashland County employee and Ashland County is currently recruiting for the vacancy. Bayfield will continue to contract with Ashland for hours once a new coordinator is hired. Linder distributed a handout regarding the Free Memory Screenings scheduled for November 18th. Screenings will be held at locations in the five counties of the Aging and Disability Resource Center of the North (Ashland, Bayfield, Iron, Price and Sawyer County.) Please refer to the handout for times and locations. Linder attended the Barnes Town Board meeting on Tuesday night. Linder introduced the Barnes Nutrition Senior Meal coordinator, Dana Hodowanic. Linder spoke with the Board about enhancing the meal site and additional resources that might be made available. They will partner to pilot a program for meal attendees to have computer access. Computer access will be available while the Meal Site Facilitator is preparing for the meal and cleaning up afterward. It is not intended to take away from the meal program but to enhance services at the site. The town will provide internet access with Bayfield County will supply a computer. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County EOC October 23, 2014 4 Monthly Reports The monthly reports were reviewed and placed on file. Skulan reported that we do not feel that we will be over budget if current spending patterns continue. There are overages in the Mental Health Institution costs. However, it appears that Bayfield County is not the only county in this situation. Mendota is over census. At the November/December Board Meeting, a budget resolution will be presented to request authorization to increase the DHS spending authority for 2014. Staffing Update Skulan reported that six potential candidates were invited to interview for the Limited Term Employee Affordable Care Act Economic Support unit worker. Interviews are scheduled for October 30. Currently Ashland, Douglas, Sawyer and Bayfield County are all advertising for Child Protective Services workers. Three individuals who were invited to interviews with Bayfield County declined the offer. Three candidates were interviewed but Bayfield County is not in a position to offer employment to any of the candidates. The 2014 Wage Schedule is being used to recruit for vacancies. Unfortunately, all three counties competing for child protective services social workers are offering substantially more. Ashland County is offering $4 more per hour. DHS will re-advertise and will advertise a range between 85% - 120 %. Discussion focused on how the 2014 Wage Schedule is hindering the hiring process. It is also likely that once a worker is hired and trained, retention will be problematic, since Bayfield County may very will lose staff to surrounding counties who offer a higher wage. Ann Marie Mackin was hired as the Aging Services Specialist. Special Enrollment Period for the Federal Market Place Skulan and Spuhler reported that the Federal Health Insurance Marketplace recently announced that there would be a Special Enrollment Period for people in Wisconsin who lost their eligibility for BadgerCare Plus on April 1, 2014 and did not purchase private health insurance. Those consumers were sent notification of the enrollment. Unfortunately, we did not receive many calls from consumers. It was also clear from NIMC calls that the Federal Marketplace workers were unaware of the special enrollment period. Senior Nutrition Program – Consideration for Waiver of Request for Proposals Linder reported that in past years, a “request for proposal” (RFP) was issued annually for Senior Nutrition Program providers. The RFPs in the last few years have resulted in no new vendors and it causes anxiety for the senior meal participants. The program allows for an extension of contracts for two additional years without a RFP. Linder and the Aging and Disability Services Advisory Committee support offering a two year extension to the current vendors based on the three year pricing structure vendors submitted last year. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County EOC October 23, 2014 5 Motion by Bussey, second by Carver, to extend the current contracts for the Senior Nutrition Program for the next two years. Motion passed unanimously. Comprehensive Community Services (CCS) Program – Status Report The CCS program plan was submitted to the state on August 20, 2014 with hopes of implementation on October 1, 2014. Bradley Jahr, a representative from the Wisconsin Department of Human Services (DHS), completed a site visit in both Ashland and Bayfield Counties on September 23rd. A provisional certification was granted for Ashland and Bayfield Counties with an effective date of September 23rd. However, the provisional certification was revoked on September 29th. Skulan reported that the CCS plan is currently under revision. Part of the revision includes adding a Tribal Council representative from both the Bad River and Red Cliff Tribes and adding another consumer member to the Coordination Committee. At this time, it is unclear when certification will be granted. Family Services Section Advisory Committee Member Resignation (and thank you to) – Mary Skerik Skulan announced that Family Services Section Advisory Committee Member Mary Skerik resigned. A letter of appreciation will be sent to Skerik. Haukaas is currently recruiting to fill the vacancy. 2015 Budget Update Skulan reviewed budget revisions due to reduction of health insurance premium costs to reflect a zero percent increase. The Department of Human Services Board may entertain a motion to move in and out of Executive Session pursuant to S19.85(1)(c); considering employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility. Motion by Bussey at 5:06 p.m., second by Carver, to move into Executive Session. Roll Call vote. Motion passed unanimously Motion by Carver at 5:18 p.m., second by Crandall, to move out of Executive Session. Roll Call Vote. Motion passed unanimously. Discussion and possible action(s) regarding Executive Session No action was needed. Other (Informational Items) A. Move Wisconsin Alliance Notice of Local Transportation Meeting in Near Future and supporting documentation B. Memo regarding the exemplary performance of Call Center Support Staff Brittany Sirrine BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County EOC October 23, 2014 6 Future Meetings A. December 2, 2014 (November/December combined meeting – begin with potluck) B. January 22, 2015 C. February 26, 2015 Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 5:22 p.m. Submitted by Nikki Revak, Financial Manager