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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Services Board - Minutes - 4/23/2015BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County EOC April 23, 2015 Board Members Present: Fred Strand arrived @ 4:11, Jim Crandall, Kent Seldal, Lona Schmidt John Bennett, Pat Carver, Rusty Williams, Bill Bussey arrived @ 4:15, Deb Pyne, remote Board Members Excused: Others Present: Elizabeth Skulan, Nikki Revak, Carrie Linder, Jeanine Spuhler, Anita Haukaas Call to Order and Introductions Williams called the meeting to order at 4:01 p.m. Introductions were made. Review of the March 25, 2015 Meeting Minutes Motion by Bennett, seconded by Crandall, to approve the minutes as presented. Motioned passed unanimously. Public Comment – Limited to 3 minutes per person None Program Presentation –Aging and Disabilities – Children’s Community Options Program Carrie Linder, Aging & Disabilities Manager, gave an overview of the Children’s Community Options Program (CCOP) proposal in the Governor’s Budget. With the creation of CCOP, the Family Support program would be eliminated. That funding would be consolidated with the funding that currently supports long-term care services for children under The Community Options Program (COP). The Family Support Program (FSP) currently provides individual services and supports to families with a child with severe disabilities living in the home. The Wisconsin Counties Association (WCA) is lobbying for the removal of the CCOP provisions from the state budget. No analysis has been done with regard to how CCOP will integrate with other programs serving children with disabilities. Program requirements differ between COP and FSP. This is another area of the budget where changes and future programs are largely undefined. Monthly Section Reports (Aging & Disability Services Monthly Section Report along with Gemini Leasing Update items was moved forward on the Agenda) Aging & Disability Services – Carrie Linder Linder attended the spring Birth to Three regional meeting in Ashland via phone conference to participate in State updates and Birth to Three Waiver program changes. The Bayfield and Ashland County Birth to Three contract provider, Northern Lights, has not been successful in recruiting and hiring a speech and language therapist for the program. Staff is doing their best to make sure that the children are receiving the services they need. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County EOC April 23, 2015 2 The AARP Tax Aide site for 2015 was a success. The site was open Wednesdays and served approximately 65 people in its inaugural year of preparing taxes for qualifying individuals. Jim Bammert and the AARP volunteers were very grateful for the space and accommodations, and look for to another year of partnering with Bayfield County. Gemini Leasing Update Linder and Skulan reported that Gemini Leasing, Inc. will be closing its door on May 31, 2015. Gemini sold their existing business to two different companies. The community based home care portion of the business was sold to International Quality Home Care, la Crescent, MN and Premier Solutions of Brookfield, WI is fulfilling some of Gemini’s previous contracts for leased employees. As Gemini had not disclosed that their business had been sold, DHS has been soliciting proposals from other providers. Four providers have submitted proposals. Skulan and Linder are scheduled to meet with Mark Abeles-Allison to review the proposals. Monthly Section Reports - continued Support Services – Nikki Revak The preliminary 2014 yearend figures are complete and will be presented later in the meeting. The preliminary year end 2014 Aging and Disabilities of the North (ADRC-N) financials have been completed and presented to the ADRC-N Advisory Committee. DHS has been asked to complete a thorough asset inventory. Each staff person will be responsible for confirming the county owned inventory in their workspace. The Bayfield County Wellness Fair is today from 2:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. Board Members were encouraged to participate. One staff person came back from Family Medical Leave. Two staff are on vacation. One staff person gave notice and will be taking a new position in Ashland County. Her duties have been assigned to other support staff so there will be no gap in service. DHS is currently advertising for a Limited Term Employee as a Clerical Call Center staff for 24 hours per week. Economic Support Services – Jeanine Spuhler There is still a workload associated with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) for Northern Income Maintenance Consortium (NIMC) staff. Due to changes in ongoing Economic Support Program requirements, NIMC was afforded additional ongoing funding in April. The additional funding will allow NIM to hire three full-time permanent positions. PPACA workers were encouraged to apply for the positions and a number of them will be interviewing in May. We are hopeful that Bayfield County PPACA workers will be successful in landing permanent positions. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County EOC April 23, 2015 3 NIMC provided additional hours of services and purchased some equipment for workers with funding that was due to lapse. Bayfield County NIMC staff received standup desks and updated cordless headsets. April is the month when utility providers can begin to disconnect consumers for non-payment of utilities bills. Staff has been busy assisting consumers who have received cut off notices. The crisis funds have been depleted. May 15th is the official end of the Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program season. Workforce Resources, Inc. (WRI) provides employment and training services to those Bayfield County FoodShare recipients required to participate in the FoodShare Employment and Training (FSET) program. WRI has a local office in Ashland. They work with people to help them find and retain employment. Governor Walker has proclaimed the week of April 27th as Economic Support Specialists week in recognition of the work performed by public assistance workers throughout the state. Family Services – Anita Haukaas There have recently been concerns from area schools regarding Child Protective Services reports, responses to reporters, and communication between school personnel and Family Services. The Annual DHS Family Services Meeting with Bayfield County Schools and Law Enforcement will be held on May 29th from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. These issues will be addressed at the meeting. Family Services staff will also provide outreach to the schools and provide information on an ongoing basis. Some mandated reporters do not necessarily understand the difference between a screened in child protective services report and a child welfare report or how the process differs between them. More education will help. Terri Jackson has been hired as the Family Specialist with the RRTC grant and is in training this week. Mental Health Coordinator Jessica Leinon-Novascone gave notice. She has taken a new position with Gogebic College which is closer to her home. Social Worker Cheryl Hanson has been assigned the duties of Mental Health Coordinator and the Family Services section is advertising for a Social Worker who will be assigned the duties of the Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Coordinator. On May 7th Haukaas and Skulan will go before the Personnel Committee to advocate for additional compensation for on call time worked for Family Services staff. There has been a noticeable decrease in morale since the new wage study/rate and Personnel Policy was implemented by Bayfield County. Family Services staff is not afforded time and one-half for on call work and staff has indicated that they feel that their time and efforts are not valued. Skulan did a comparison of on call time for 2013 and will present that information to the committee. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County EOC April 23, 2015 4 Monthly Reports The monthly reports were reviewed and placed on file. With the preliminary, unaudited figures, DHS will be under budget by approximately $250,000. Status of 2015 161 Agreement Skulan reported that the 161 Agreement was signed and returned to DHS. Comprehensive Community Support (CCS) Program Update There are currently 15 individuals; eleven adults and four youth; enrolled in the CCS program. Implementation is going well and the provider still has capacity to serve more individuals. DHS staff has been meeting monthly with CCS staff. The CCS team from New Horizons North have been doing outreach and offering to meet with local physicians and clinics to provide them with more information about the program and the referral process. Ashland County DHHS and Bayfield County DHS both received an invoice from New Horizons North for approximately $54,000 for 2014 costs for the CCS program. Skulan and Revak met with the administrative from New Horizons North and the Director and Financial Manger from Ashland DHHS to review the invoice. It was determined that some charges were not allowable due to the cost allocation methodology or the lack of appropriate documentation. We are waiting for an updated invoice. 2016 Budget Process Skulan reviewed the two documents for the DHS 2016 Budget process. The first document is a public participation report which outlines how DHS will solicit input for the budget. The other document is a request for provider input. The 2016 Budget Hearing will be held at the regular monthly meeting of the DHS Board on June 25th in the County Board Room. Resolution 2015-02 To Request Adequate Funding for Income Maintenance As the State Joint Committee on Finance has already considered this issue, this item will be tabled. Resolution 2015-03 To Request Funding for the Income Maintenance Fraud Prevention and Investigation Program (FPIP) As the State Joint Committee on Finance has already considered this issue, this item will be tabled. Motion by Bussey, second my Carver, to table Resolutions 2015-02 and 2015-03 as the Joint Committee already voted on these issues. Motion passed. Human Service Day at the Capitol Issues and Update Skulan reported that she and Revak attended Human Services Day at the Capitol and met with Senator Bewley and Representative Meyers. The Director and Financial Manager from Iron BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County EOC April 23, 2015 5 County joined us. Both Bewley and Meyers were in support of recommendations made by the Wisconsin County and the Wisconsin County Human Services Associations, but don’t believe that they will have any impact on the Governor’s Budget Proposal. Other (Informational Items) A. Proclamation May 2015 as Aging and Disability Resource Center Month B. Budget Listening Session with Senator Bewley and Representative Meyers, Saturday April 25, 2015 at Northern Great Lakes Visitors Center Future Meetings A. May 28, 2015 B. June 25, 2015 (EOC, Begin with Public Hearing on 2016 DHS Budget) C. July 23, 2015 Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 5:25 p.m. Submitted by Nikki Revak, Financial Manager