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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Services Board - Minutes - 7/28/2016BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC Room July 28, 2016 Board Members Present: Lona Schmidt, Pat Carver, Deb Pyne, Larry Fickbohm, Fred Strand, Jim Crandall, Rachel Coughtry arrived at 4:05 p.m. Board Members Excused: Kent Seldal, Rusty Williams Others Present: Elizabeth Skulan, Nikki Revak, Jeanine Spuhler, Anita Haukaas, Jeanine Spuhler, Jeremy McClair arrived at 4:20 Call to Order and Introductions Crandall called the meeting to order at 4:02 p.m. Introductions were made. Review of the June 23, 2016 Meeting Minutes Motion by Strand, seconded by Schmidt, to approve the minutes as presented with the name correction under Family Services “Northlakes Community Clinic HOPE”. Motion passed unanimously. Public Comment – Limited to 3 minutes per person None Program Presentation – Juvenile Mental Health, Social Worker Cheryl Hanson, Family Services Hanson reviewed the Adolescent Mental Health Facts sheet distributed. An estimated 11% of American children and adolescents have a diagnosed mental health condition that will cause significant functional impairment. There is an immense need for juvenile psychiatric services. Currently there is no practitioner trained to serve children in the immediate area. Bayfield County is experiencing a greater number of young children with mental health issues than ever before. Northlakes has a psychiatric nurse practitioner who is accepting new clients for medication management. Generally, families need to utilize their local primary care physician or travel to seek help. Northland Counseling’s license allows the placement of two children. They can also place up to four adults. However, they cannot place adults and children at the same time in the same facility. Advocates in Bayfield and Ashland Counties across many different agencies are seeking for more services in the area so children do not need to go out of the community. Monthly Section Reports Aging & Disability Services – Carrie Linder Linder completed the A & D section of the DHS 2015 Annual Report. A number of unit staff have been out, enjoying vacation time. The Barnes Meal Site Facilitator is out on medical leave. Linder collaborated with Liz Lexau, UW Extension Family Living Educator, on the Caregiver and Family News: Living Well in our Best Years newsletter, first edition. Retiring UW-Extension BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC Room July 28, 2016 2 Office Manager, Karen Bade assisted in formatting the publication. Over 300 copies distributed electronically with 288 being bulk mailed. The intent is to publish this newsletter twice a year. Support Services – Nikki Revak Staff worked many hours compiling and editing the DHS 2015 Annual Report. Staff did a wonderful job completing it. Auditor, Rich Setzke from Maitland, Singler & Van Vlack, S.C. was here last week. The first phase of the audit is finished. Support staff did a great job pulling the information needed. Staff is now gathering information for the compliance portion of the audit which will be completed sometime in August or first of September. With the significant weather events over the last couple of weeks, Revak attended Emergency Management meetings. Skulan, Linder and Revak traveled to Ashland on Monday, July 25th to attend Governor Walker’s briefing regarding the recent rain/flood event. Revak mentored Brandon Rohrig, the WIC Director, at the request of the County Administrator. They met over lunch and discussed many aspects of employment with Bayfield County and the benefits of living in the northland. As a member of the Wellness Committee, Revak is proactively seeking approval from Board Members on the installation of showers in the lower level of the EOC. The committee has approached the County Administrator and he is taking the suggestion under advisement. Economic Support Services – Jeanine Spuhler The unit is receiving calls from the recent rain/flood disaster from affected recipients. Julie Szafranski from Vilas County accepted the vacant Childcare Supervisor position for the Northern Income Maintenance Consortium. Tammy Fisher completed the last of her on-line training. Fisher is doing extremely well. Interviews for the vacant limited term Economic Support position in the Bayfield branch of the NIMC are complete and background checks are underway. Family Services – Anita Haukaas Kelsey Byard submitted her resignation. Her last day was July 21st. The Child Protective Services position is currently being advertised and applications are due July 29th. Regular staffing meetings will continue with Red Cliff starting the second week in August. Monthly Reports Monthly reports reviewed and placed on file. Linder will be in Fort McCoy on August 16th and 17th. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC Room July 28, 2016 3 2015 DHS Annual Report – Draft Positive comments received from the board. Two items noted for correction; 2014 should be 2015, and note on page 24 to be completed. 2016 Flood – DHS Update Skulan reported that DHS management team has been involved in the ongoing meetings with Emergency Management and other department heads regarding residents and services affected by the July 11th rain/flood event. Linder suspended home delivered meals for one day due to the uncertainty of county road conditions. Very few resources are available for those who own homes adversely affected by the flooding. The Northwest Regional Housing Program received a grant for three million dollars for the eight county regions declared a national disaster. The funds are Community Development Block Grant and will cover three different prongs, businesses, infra structure and private homes. Only low to moderate income households are eligible for the funding. 2016 Mental Health and Out of Home Placement Projections – Consideration for increase in budget early in the year with a proposal to access risk reserve is warranted Expenditures have increased dramatically in 2016 for emergency detentions; out of home placement costs; State Mental Health institutionalizations; and the Comprehensive Community Services program. DHS is carefully monitoring these programs, and is proactively developing a county board resolution to both increase the 2016 DHS budget and to access the Risk Reserve. Skulan will present the resolution at the August Board Meeting for consideration and approval. 2016 Senior Nutrition Program – Update on trends at Congregate Meal Site, Washburn; changes planned 2016; options for future change It appears that seniors may be the only customers at the Time Out Restaurant during the senior congregate meals in Washburn. The number of meals continues to increase beyond the 2016 contract and Linder anticipates the cost will exceed the budget by approximately $10,000. Due to a number of other circumstances, it appears that DHS will be able to shift monies from other Aging and Disability budget line items to cover the expected overage. Once the new Social Worker Aide position is in place, A & D will implement a number of measures at the meal site to try to reduce the cost of the meal program there. The Aging and Disability Advisory Committee developed and considered many suggestions to reduce the number of meals served at the Time Out. Their final recommendation is to decrease one meal per week and serve meals Monday, Wednesday, and Friday only as Washburn has other nutrition options available. This is still an option for 2017. Comprehensive Community Services (CCS) Update DHS has not received a response from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) regard the appeal. To date none of the audited counties received a response. The report that the Department of Health Services submitted to the Joint Finance Committee emphasized the statewide increase in services provided rather than the number of audit exceptions discovered BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC Room July 28, 2016 4 by OIG. A statewide work group for counties is being formed to discuss what must be done to come into compliance with the required documentation. Other (Informational Items) A. Systems Improvement Award B. Merging of Three Managed Care Organizations C. Appreciation from Client to Social Worker Rebecca Kruit Future Meetings A. August 25, 2016 B. September 22, 2016 C. October 27, 2016 D. November/December Meeting, Tuesday, December 6, 2016 (to begin with a potluck to celebrate the holidays) Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 5:14 p.m. Submitted by Nikki Revak, Financial Manager