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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Services Board - Minutes - 1/28/2016BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County EOC January 28, 2016 Board Members Present: Fred Strand, Jim Crandall, Pat Carver, Kathy Wendling, Kent Seldal, John Bennett Board Members Excused: Deb Pyne, Rusty Williams, Lona Schmidt Others Present: Elizabeth Skulan, Nikki Revak, Carrie Linder, Anita Haukaas, Call to Order and Introductions Crandall called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. Introductions were made. Review of the December 1, 2015 Meeting Minutes Motion by Carver, seconded by Wendling, to approve the December 1, 2015 minutes as presented. Motioned passed unanimously. Public Comment – Limited to 3 minutes per person None Program Presentation, Rachael Obiden, Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Coordinator, Family Services– Involuntary Alcohol and Drug Commitment Obiden gave an overview on the process of the 51.45 Involuntary Alcohol Commitment. Under 51.45 (11)(b) “A person who appears incapacitated by alcohol shall be placed under protective custody by a law enforcement officer “. Incapacitated could be gross impairment (slurred speech, unsteady gait, incoherent or unconscious); strong odor of alcohol on breath; impaired judgement; inability to care for self; life-threatening withdrawal symptoms. A probable cause hearing must be held within 72 business hours after the incident exclusive of weekends and holidays. In 95% of the cases, a Settlement Agreement is negotiated between the individual, their attorney, corporation counsel and the court. All parties must be in agreement to facilitate a settlement. If a Settlement Agreement is not an option, a final hearing is held. During the final hearing, the case can be dismissed or an order for involuntary civil commitment can made. In 2015, DHS had 72 Emergency Detentions, 16 of those were AODA related. However, some of the 72 cases could have been with an individual who was dually diagnosed with mental health and AODA related issues. Monthly Section Reports Aging & Disability Services – Carrie Linder The state’s new initiative, the Children’s Community Option Program (CCOP), has replaced the sunset of the Family Support Program. The original Community Options Program (COP) for adults has also changed. Support Home Care is no longer an allowable cost for adults formerly in the COP program. We are waiting for more direction from the state regarding these changes. On January 20th, the annual walk-through of the Aging and Disability Resource of the North Bayfield Branch Office was completed. There are two areas that need to be addressed: signage, which must be changed to the new Blue and White State Logo and Bayfield County’s Web Home Page needs to have a direct link to the ADRC-N Website. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County EOC January 28, 2016 2 Starting in mid-February there will be a Vegetarian option for Senior Meals. It will be piloted at the Barnes congregate meal site. Linder was asked to send the final 2016-2018 Aging Plan to the DHS board committee members. Support Services – Nikki Revak Thank you to the rest of the team for covering during Revak’s FMLA absence. The first 2016 Support Staff meeting was held on January 14th. Revak hosted/facilitated the meeting. Unfortunately the county clerical floater was not able to cover reception as planned, so the team held the meeting while responding to phone calls and walk-ins up at the front desk. A taco salad lunch was provided to the team by Revak who then covered the front desk while support staff enjoyed lunch. Staff continues to work in two fiscal years, ending 2015 and starting 2016. Support staff is having issues with a DHS software vendor and their contracted staff regarding a proposed upgrade to the system. On Tuesday, the team celebrated Sarah Copp’s birthday on with a chocolate flourless torte. On Monday, Revak participated with Skulan in a NIMC (Northern Income Maintenance Consortium) Director’s/Fiscal meeting on Tuesday in Phillips. Economic Support Services – Jeanine Spuhler On demand interviews will be piloted in the Northern Income Maintenance Consortium beginning January 11th. Consumers will be able to complete their interviews in one call, from start to finish. It is quite possible this new process will increase wait times from seven minutes to up to thirty minutes. All NIMC staff has completed training for the on demand interviews. An arrest warrant was issued for an Ashland County resident for FoodShare Fraud. The individual used the FoodShare card from a Bayfield resident and misappropriated their funds. Beginning in 2016, if a FoodShare consumer applies for four duplicative cards in a twelve month period because their card has been lost or stolen, they will be investigated for possible misuse of FoodShare funds. The 1098B forms were mailed out to recipients. This forms states that the consumer obtained health insurance that meets affordable health care standards and is required for individuals to file their 2015 tax return. There have been many calls from consumers questioning what they must do with this document. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County EOC January 28, 2016 3 Family Services – Anita Haukaas Working on evaluations and reviewing them with staff. Family Services staff has completed cultural competencies to increase their awareness about providing culturally competent services. The management team attended training last week on how to improve their skills while supervising staff. Rachael Obiden did a wonderful job covering the caseload while another Family Service staff was on Family Medical Leave and Haukaas was on vacation. A case, where the family has been avoiding the primary case worker has been resolved. Richard Kamm, the part-time social work aid has started and is a big asset to the team. New worker trainings are being completed by staff. The December pre-audit report shows that there are 32 children placed out of home. This number includes kinship cases. In some cases, there are multiple children placed in the same home; which reduced the number of mandatory face to face visits required. However, staff must still travel to comply with this mandate. Dr. Lean has left the area and staff is currently working with Dr. White for psychiatric services. Carver left the meeting at 5:00 p.m. Monthly Reports The monthly reports were reviewed and placed on file. Staffing Updates Richard Kamm, the half-time social work aid started on January 14th in Family Services. Kamm has a four year degree in Social Work. Jack Holevatz, Information and Assistance Specialist, has given notice that he will be leaving in July. Jack has been accepted into a Master’s Program in Physical Therapy in Maine. Clare Hintz, Home Delivered Meal driver, has given her notice effective March 17, 2016. Hintz has enjoyed the work, but the schedule was difficult for her to manage with her other part-time positions. Hintz also reported that a substantial wage increase at one of her other jobs allowed her to resign. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County EOC January 28, 2016 4 DHS received notice from the NIMC that Lisa Fox’s PPACA position will be funded through the end of 2016. Fox was extremely happy to hear this. Currently there are six PPACA workers in the NIMC. Four DHS social workers hold training certificates. Two staff members are taking classes through UW-Stout via IPV. There have been some connectivity issues. However, there are a number of other locations in the area where classes might be held if needed. A contract, with a recently retired therapist who holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work, has been issued to provide supervision to a number of social workers who are in the process of securing their certification. Personnel Policy Changes A. E-Cigarette Policy – This is currently not a problem but Public Health wanted to be proactive in this area. B. Bullying Policy Prohibits bullying and describes what is and what it is not bullying. A board member also suggested that the term shunning be included in the policy. C. Tuition Assistance Program The new policy was reviewed. It allows employees to apply for some tuition assistance. D. Wage Study Skulan reviewed a comparative of the former wage study and the new study. There is a significant, positive difference in the starting wage of Social Worker I’s with the new wage rate. It is hoped that this will make a positive difference in hiring and retaining positions. There is now a mechanism in place for employees to gain increases beyond 100% of their wage, which is a welcome change. Only one DHS staff is above 112% of the wage schedule for their position. There was significant feedback from support staff regarding the different levels of Clerk I’s and where the DHS clerical staff was placed compared to other similarly titled positions in the wage ranking of the county. There are also concerns regarding the level the DHS Bookkeeper was placed in relations to other similarly titled staff. Skulan requested that the County Administrator’s office hold some informational meetings regarding the implementation of the Wage Study, since some staff are confused about what it all means and how it will affect them. Getting the information via email has, in some instances, negatively affected staff morale. Comprehensive Community Services Recertification – January 1, 2016 On December 11th a site review of the CCS program was conducted by Health Services Specialist Polly Wong with the Division of Quality Assurance. One major finding was identified at the BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County EOC January 28, 2016 5 time. After further investigations by the State, the finding was reversed. At the end of the review, Wong did provide DHS with a number of suggestions for improvement. The CCS program was recertified from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016. Another site review will be scheduled before the end of 2016. Comprehensive Community Services Medicaid Audit – January 1, 2015 to October 31, 2015 Bayfield DHS, along with a number of other counties were selected to participate in a Medicaid audit of their regional CCS program. Six participant files were randomly selected by the Office of the Inspector General for review. The information from the files was copied and mailed to Madison where they will be reviewed as part of the audit. DHS expects that there will be one finding due to an error on the part of the provider. We are currently waiting for the results. Request for Youth Aids Emergency Funds 2015 Bayfield DHS qualified to apply for Youth Aids Emergency Funds due to the high costs of two out of home placements in 2015. The application was completed and submitted to the state. Senate Bill 326 – Proposed Changes to Expand the Reporting of Suspected Child Abuse or Neglect to Law Enforcement Skulan gave an overview on the SB 326. The Bayfield County Sheriff’s Department is in support of the bill, DHS is not. There are still questions that need to be answered. The Department of Human Services Board entertained a motion to move into 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 and §19.85(1)(f) considering financial, medical, social or personal histories or disciplinary data of specific persons, preliminary consideration of specific personnel problems or the investigation of charges against specific persons except where par. (b) applies which, if discussed in public, would be likely to have a substantial adverse effect upon the reputation of any person referred to in such histories or data, or involved in such problems or investigations and to allow staff Elizabeth Skulan, Nikki Revak, Jeanine Spuhler, Anita Haukaas and Carrie Linder to attend the Executive Session. Motion by Bennett at 5:50 p. m., second by Seldal, to move into Executive Session. Motion passed unanimously. Motion by Bennett at 6:15 p. m., second by Wendling, to move out of Executive Session. Motion passed unanimously. There was no action after the Executive Session. Other (Informational Items) A. B Future Meetings BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield County EOC January 28, 2016 6 A. February 25, 2016 B. March 24, 2016 C. April 28, 2016 Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 6:20 p. m. Submitted by Nikki Revak, Financial Manager