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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Services Board - Minutes - 7/23/2015BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC Room, Courthouse Annex July 23, 2015 Board Members Present: Lona Schmidt, John Bennett, Pat Carver, Rusty Williams, Deb Pyne, Kathy Wendling, Fred Strand, Jim Crandall Board Members Excused: Kent Seldal Others Present: Elizabeth Skulan, Nikki Revak, Jeanine Spuhler, Anita Haukaas, Carrie Linder Call to Order and Introductions Williams called the meeting to order at 4:04 p.m. Introductions were made. Review of the June 25, 2015 Meeting Minutes Motion by Carver, second by Crandall, to approve the minutes as presented. Motion passed unanimously. Public Comment – Limited to 3 minutes per person None Program Presentation – Aging & Disability Services – Carrie Linder Linder reported that every three years each Aging Unit in Wisconsin must develop and submit a three year aging plan. There are specific guidelines including focus areas for 2016 – 2018 Plan. A survey was drafted to gather input on the five focus areas: Involvement of Older People in Aging-Related Program Development and Planning; The Elder Nutrition Program; Services in Support of Caregivers; Services to People with Dementia and; Healthy Aging. The survey will be issued to congregate meal site consumers, home delivered meal recipients and at listening sessions held throughout the county. Linder provided two surveys to each DHS Board Member and asked that they complete one survey and that they ask one other community member to complete the second survey. Monthly Section Reports Family Services – Anita Haukaas The process for Release of Information Requests from consumers is being updated. New social workers Kelsey Byard and Courtney Rauschenbach are doing well. They have good ideas and work well with the families on their caseloads. Rachel Obiden was hired as the Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse coordinator. Obiden has a law enforcement background and will start on July 13. Family Services staff attended the Family Treatment Court committee meeting. Bayfield County is struggling to find families appropriate for the program. If there is any indication of domestic violence, families are not eligible for Family Treatment Court. Currently there is one family in the program working towards reunification. The program will follow the family through the court order process. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC Room, Courthouse Annex July 23, 2015 2 Haukaas reported that a member of a family who is requesting custody changes and who has also been in contact with Law Enforcement is upset that Family Services does not have an open case for child abuse and neglect after they filed complaints with DHS. Haukaas indicated that the information received to date is not sufficient to meet the statutory guidelines for abuse or neglect. In cases like this, the family must return to Family Court to facilitate a change in custody and it is recommended that they do so. Human Services does not have the authority to change a custody agreement. Family Services staff met with New Horizons North staff regarding Community Service Program (CSP) consumers and transitions to Comprehensive Community Service (CCS) program. Haukaas reported that some referrals to CCS have been discharged due to lack of participation by the individual referred in securing the information necessary to positively determine their eligibility. The flexible work schedule pilot for Family Services staff has been in place for just over one month. With only a few exceptions when the pilot was first implemented, staff is communicating with their team to flex work time rather than seeking prior authorization from a manager to do so. The team is responsible to ensure adequate coverage and each team member is responsible to ensure they work 37.5 hours. Any deviation from the 37.5 hour workweek must still be authorized by a manager. Support Services – Nikki Revak Final year-end figures from the state have been received and reconciled. Auditor Rich Setzke, with Maitland, Singler & Van Vlack, S.C., worked with fiscal staff this past week and the fiscal portion of the 2014 audit is complete. Staff is working on final adjustments to the 2014 Annual Report. Work has begun on the 2016 DHS Budget. Economic Support Services – Jeanine Spuhler The early Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program (WHEAP) applications for the heating season have been received. They have not been distributed. On August 2, 2015, Child Care attendance reports will be entered regionally by the Northern Income Maintenance Consortium (NIMC) Child Care (CC) team. A letter was sent out to NIMC child care providers notifying them of the change. A Bayfield County clerical support staff will scan the attendance reports and place them in a SharePoint folder. The reports will then be distributed to CC workers by the CC supervisor. Starting in 2016, FoodShare recipients that have six or more requests for replacement cards will receive a warning letter from the state. Requests for replacement cards have escalated statewide and may be an indicator of fraudulent activities. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC Room, Courthouse Annex July 23, 2015 3 NIMC received 100% reporting accuracy in the last month for FoodShare program. NIMC was the only consortium statewide to receive this rating. Aging & Disability Services – Carrie Linder DHS was not successful in recruiting a qualified applicant for the AmeriCorps Volunteer grant program. The majority of the applicants was from the southern part of the state and preferred to work closer to home. Kristin Opperman, Youth Services Coordinator, started work on Monday, July 21. Opperman will job shadow outgoing Youth Services Coordinator Megan Collins for the remainder of July. Opperman has a background as a special education teacher. Statistics were pulled from Nightingale Notes, the data software that is used in the Aging and Disabilities Resource Center of the North program. Since the rollout of Family Care in July of 2009, Bayfield County has had worked with slightly over 1,200 individuals. Ashland County has comparative numbers. Social Worker Michele Reiswig is a member of the area Dementia Community Care committee. An Alzheimer’s Walk will be held on September 10th at 6:00 p.m. This walk is two miles long and will take place at Bayview Park in Ashland. Reiswig is organizing a Bayfield County team. Monthly Reports The monthly reports were reviewed and placed on file. Skulan reviewed the final 2014 yearend figures. Skulan reported that DHS will be under budget by $545,000. Much of the excess was due to revenue received after the end of the year from Medicaid and third party insurance companies for mental health institutional placements. June 30, 2015 Letter from Ron Hermes Regarding Northland Counseling Crisis Bed Skulan reviewed a letter from Ron Hermes, Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, regarding a problem with Northland Counseling and their license as a Level 5 Exceptional Treatment Foster Home. The facility was licensed as a treatment foster home to allow youth to be placed as part of the crisis services structure. The facility is licensed through Ashland County Health and Human Services Department (ACHHSD). Ashland County HHSD is working with the State to relicense the facility. Bayfield County may need to pay back between $75,000 and $100,000 of Medicaid reimbursement for youth placed at the facility during the time it was not appropriately licensed, although Ashland County HHSD is in negotiations on the matter with the State. Skulan will seek to have a portion of excess funds from 2014 held until a determination regarding the Medicaid reimbursement is made. 2016 Budget Update Linder and Skulan made a presentation to the full-county board on the State of Aging in Bayfield County. After the presentation, Skulan was asked ensure that the 2016 budget BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC Room, Courthouse Annex July 23, 2015 4 included provisions to address the anticipated need for increased services from Bayfield County’s aging population. There are already capacity issues in Adult Protective Services (APS) and projections are that referrals will continue to increase. An additional full-time position will be proposed with an anticipated start date of July 1, 2016. After input from the Aging and Disability Services staff, a determination will be made whether to hire an additional Social Worker or a Social Work Aide position. Hiring for the position mid - 2016 will position DHS to respond to referrals before 2020 when over 40 percent of Bayfield County’s population is expected to be over age 65 . In the Family Services Unit, a .5 FTE Social Worker Aide will be requested with a start date of January 1, 2016. This position will provide support to social workers in the Family Services Section and it will allow social work staff to spend more of their time working directly with clients. Provider Input – 2016 Budget Skulan reported that a letter was received on July 13, 2015 from New Day Shelter documenting their input on the 2016 budget. Memos to County Administrator (3) Re: Wages Schedule, Fringe Benefits, and Paid Time Off Skulan reviewed three memos addressed to County Administrator Mark Abeles-Allison: one requesting a formal review of the Bayfield County Wage Schedule; one requesting that the effective date of a June 10, 2015 change in policy be made retroactive to include all staff who have been employed by Bayfield County for less than one year; and the last requesting that some positions be considered for an increased level and wage along with the justification for the request. Responses to the three memos were also reviewed. 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 Crandall, second by Carver at 5:25 p.m. to move into Executive Session. Roll Call vote. Motion passed unanimously. Motion by Crandall, second by Carver at 5:45 p.m., to move out of Executive Session. Roll call vote. Motion passed unanimously. Discussion and possible action(s) regarding Executive Session. Reclassification discussed in Executive Session. Motion by Carver, second by Schmidt, to approve the recommendations for reclassification from Clark-Gregoire and Stacy Schmidt; and to deny the reclassification from Denise Ruberg per the recommendations provide by Management staff. Motion passed unanimously. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC Room, Courthouse Annex July 23, 2015 5 The Committee’s recommendations will be forwarded to the County Administrator and the Personnel Committee for their consideration and the next step in the reclassification process. Other (Informational Items) A. Disability Rights Wisconsin (DRW) Open Records Request July2 2015 B. Response to DRW Request, July 13, 2015 Future Meetings A. August 27, 2015 B. September 24, 2015 C. October 28, 2015 Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 5:50 p.m. Submitted by Nikki Revak, Financial Manager