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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Services Board - Minutes - 2/23/2017BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC February 23, 2017 Board Members Present: Larry Fickbohm, Fred Strand, Kent Seldal, Jim Crandall, Phil Milam, Rachel Coughtry (4:10 p.m.) Board Members Excused: Lona Schmidt, Pat Carver, Rusty Williams Others Present: Elizabeth Skulan, Carrie Linder, Anita Haukaas, Sarah Traaholt, Cheryl Hanson, Jeff Silbert Call to Order and Introductions Crandall called the meeting to order at 4:03 p.m. Review of the January 26, 2017 Meeting Minutes Motion by Strand seconded by Milam, to approve the minutes as presented. Motion passed unanimously. Public Comment – Limited to 3 minutes per person None Staffing Update: Jeanine Sphuler is out of the office for a few more weeks. Jacqui Grimm started as Adult Protective Services Social Worker on February 13th. Melissa Huempfner started as Child Protective Service and Juvenile Justice Social Worker on February 20th. Welcome back Carrie Linder. Program Presentation –Social Worker Cheryl Hanson, Family Services Section, Case Management Cheryl stated that Case Management is a little bit of everything. Work with clients mostly on involuntary basis on court orders. Sometimes voluntary basis. Duration is usually 90 days (voluntary) or 6 months (court ordered). Currently has approximately 20 cases, but with Community Support Program (CSP) and Community Support Services (CSS) can juggle between 60-80 clients. The process involves: assessment of the individual and their needs and strengths, care planning, plan implementation, progress monitoring and regular review and re-assessment of progress and plan. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC February 23, 2017 2 Case Management may include; but is not limited to: crisis beds, hospitalization, stabilization, urine analysis or breathalyzers, connecting individuals with services and support, monitoring medications/prescriptions and side effects, face to face visits, reporting to the court, updating the court and follow-up. Case Managers partner with the client for goals on wellness, motivating change and becoming independent. Each client needs to find their path to recovery and a support system; whether that is reconnecting with family, recreating a whole new social system, connecting to a faith community, counseling or whatever works for that particular client until they are motivated to change. Monthly Section Reports Support Services – Elizabeth Skulan Nikki left on vacation before meeting because of impending weather. Working with WI Forward Health and Public Consulting Group (PGC) to reconcile why they are recouping regional funds from Bayfield County’s CCS program. Pete Herlevi, from Ashland County, and Nikki have been in contact with the state to correct the issue. Participated in Children’s Long Term Waiver Support Funds (CLTS) and Children’s Community Option Program (CCOP) reconciliation webcast. Reports due beginning of April. Final batch for 2016 payables is due Monday, February 27th. Economic Support Services – Elizabeth Skulan Staff are keeping section together in Jeanine’s absence. Slight delay in processing energy assistance applications. Issue was resolved, and the applications were completed in the 30-day allotted time. General relief vouchers went out a little late in February. Staff is looking forward to her return. Aging & Disability Services – Carrie Linder Linder thanked everyone for everything they did while she was out of the office. Family Services – Anita Haukaas Working on reports due at end of March for Safe and Stable Families. Reviewing other funding sources and working on allocating extra reunification dollars. Heather Wagner wasn’t hired until December; so funds targeted for the Family Specialist position will be used for social worker time invested in reunification instead. The attorney from Arrowhead Regional Corrections facility has been working with Corporation Counsel on an updated draft of the contract to address civil rights compliance and audit differences between the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Once approval complete, Bayfield County will able to use Arrowhead for juvenile correctional placements for 72 hours or less. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC February 23, 2017 3 Currently there are several of juvenile mental health cases in placement. Because facilities can choose who they care for and some placements have been disruptive and required police involvement, finding alternative placements has been difficult. Family Services is struggling to find appropriate placements for some high needs children. Most Wisconsin counties are having similar problems locating appropriate placements. Almost all Bayfield County foster home providers have youth in care. Bayfield County has approximately 30 children placed in Foster Care and Kinship placements. Social Workers have regular contact with foster families to ensure that Bayfield County meets state and federal requirements. Foster parents are licensed. They received initial and on-going training. Treatment Foster homes require additional training to secure a license and a treatment foster care agency providers additional oversight. Bayfield County is required to place in the lease restrictive environment that meets a child’s needs, so Kinship or Foster Care is preferable to a group home, another type of residential facility or a detention facility. Melissa Huempfner, the new Juvenile Justice/Child Protective Services ongoing worker, started this week. Melissa has been shadowing Social Worker Mary Anich. We hope to have a new CPS Investigator/Juvenile Justice Social Worker starting in the next few weeks. An interview was held earlier this week and references are being completed on the candidate. We are hoping that an offer of employment will be extended. Monthly Reports Monthly reports reviewed and placed on file. Youth Transition Position Update – Aging and Disability Services Section The new job description for the Youth Transition Specialist position was included in the packet. The Youth Transition Specialist requires a 4-year degree rather than Social Work Certification. Wage scale was reduced by one grade. The Personnel Committee approved: reclassification of the position; offering the position first to Kristin Opperman; and freezing Opperman’s wage until the wage scale exceeds her current hourly rate. Kristin holds a Master’s Degree in Education so she exceeds the requirements of the position and has been doing an excellent job. Kristin has accepted the position. Comprehensive Community Support (CCS) Program Update – 2017 Rates and proposed regional changes Ashland and Bayfield County negotiated CCS rates for 2017 at 78% of the Interim State Rates. This is an increase of approximately 10% in Bayfield County compared to year to date expenses through November 2016. Rates will be reconciled monthly in 2017 due to concerns regarding the rate structuring and cost allocation of the CCS program. Ashland and Bayfield Counties received a request from Douglas County to expand the CCS region to include Douglas County. Douglas County would not use the same primary provider as BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC February 23, 2017 4 Ashland and Bayfield Counties. Extending the region may benefit existing participants by allowing additional provider choice and/or provider options closer to home. As a result, the request is being seriously considered. 2017 – 2019 Wisconsin State Biennial Budget – Wisconsin Counties Association (WCA) Summary The Governor presented his proposed budget for the 2017-2019 biennium. Skulan reviewed the changes proposed for the portions of the budget the will affect DHS. Other (Informational Items) A. Thank you United Methodist Church, Washburn B. Medicaid Block Grants: A foolish Bargain, Tom Frazier C. Fact Sheet: Wisconsin Changing Medicare to a Premium Support Model Could Hurt Wisconsinites D. Medicaid and Counties, National Association of Counties (NaCO) E. CCS Coordination Committee Appointment Resignation F. Human Services Day at the Capitol will take place on April 5, 2017. Strand will be attending as a member of the CAP (Capitol Ambassador Program) and will take care of the registration himself. Crandall may also be interested. G. The state has recommended that counties include Personnel Policy language regarding the statutory requirement to report disciplinary action of Social Workers to the Social Work Licensing and Examining Board. Draft language was included in the board packet. Future Meetings A. March 23, 2017 B. April 27, 2017 C. May 25, 2017 Adjournment Submitted 5:16 p.m. by Sarah Traaholt, Clerk