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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Services Board - Minutes - 9/28/2017BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC September 28, 2017 Board Members Present: Larry Fickbohm, Kent Seldal, Lona Schmidt, Rusty Williams, Pat Carver, Board Members Excused: Rachel Coughtry, Jim Crandall, Fred Strand, Others Present: Elizabeth Skulan, Nikki Revak, Jeanine Spuhler, Carol Lund Call to Order and Introductions Williams called the meeting to order at 4:38 p.m. Review of the August 24th Meeting Minutes Motion by Fickbohm, seconded by Carver, to approve the minutes as presented. Motion passed unanimously. Public Comment – Limited to 3 minutes per person None Program Presentation – Community Youth Mental Health Stabilization Facility, Northland Counseling Director Carol Lund Lund stated that in 2006 Northland Counseling (NC) became certified for Crisis Stabilization with adults. NC currently contracts with Ashland, Bayfield, Iron and Sawyer County for adult crisis services. NC has is in the process of building, certifying and licensing a Level 5 Crisis Treatment Foster Home to provide crisis mental health stabilization for children and adolescents. When it opens, the facility will serve three children/adolescents ages 7 to 18 on a voluntary basis. They hope to have larger capacity in the future at the facility. The length of stay would be no more than five days for voluntary placements. However, formal placement through a court order could be established for a longer stay. The average stay is expected to be between three and five days. The facility is estimated to be completed by mid-November. NC expects to start serving children January 2018. Services will include assessment and testing. A nurse practitioner will be on hand twice a month for face to face services but will be available on a as needed basis via phone Monthly Section Reports Aging & Disability Services – Carrie Linder Reported by Elizabeth Skulan • Linder traveled with Adult Protective Services (APS) staff, JoAnn Paraventi and Jacqui Grimm, to attend the National APS conference on August 28 – 30. Kudos to Social Worker Aide, Karen Bodin who handled the APS calls during their absence. • Linder presented at the Estate Planning Seminar hosted by Ashland and Bayfield County Clerks of Court. Linder’s presentation focused on elder abuse with an emphasis on financial exploitation. • Aging and Disability Specialists Ann Marie Makin and Lindi Olson attended the Aging and Disability Network Conference in Madison on September 6 and 7. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield EOC September 28, 2017 2 • Linder presented the “State of Aging” to the Gerontology class at WITC. It was broadcast to four satellite campus via video conferencing. • Youth Services Coordinator Kristin Opperman facilitated the Children’s Community Options Program Advisory Committee. • Included in the 2017-2019 Governor’s Biennial Budget is funding to eliminate the wait list for the Children’s Long-Term Services Waiver (CLTS) program. The DHS plan includes all children on the current CLTS wait list. They will be served by March 31, 2018. • Elderly Benefit Specialist Shelia Mack and Social Worker Aide Karen Bodin facilitated monthly sessions titled “Medicare 101”. Sessions were held January through September with a total of 58 consumers in attendance. • The new Port Wing Senior Meal Site at the Bear Paw Restaurant will have a soft opening tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, October 3 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Support Services – Nikki Revak • Completed the Wisconsin Medicaid Cost Report desk review for 2016. • Worked with auditors Rich and Beth to complete the 2016 compliance audit for DHS. • Was part of a panel that did a presentation to orientate New Financial Mangers and Human Service Directors. The training was facilitated by the Wisconsin Departments of Children and Families, and Health Services and held in Wausau on September 22nd. • Sarah Traaholt is completing Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program applications. Economic Support Services – Jeanine Spuhler Program plans have been submitted to the state for Bayfield County 2017 – 2018 Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program (WHEAP) season. Support staff Sarah Traaholt is processing early WHEAP applications. Seventy applications have been processed to date and the official start date is October 1, 2017. Program plans have been submitted to the state for Bayfield County 2017 – 2018 Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program (WHEAP) season. On September 12th, the Northern Income Maintenance Consortium (NIMC) closed the call center for their annual all staff face training in Fifield. It was a great day. Staff had the opportunity to meet team members, learn from the training and build relationships with team members. Although the day was productive, it had a negative impact on the workload because the call center was closed. September has been an extremely busy month. Received two new Interim Assistance applications that are currently being processed. A senior Economic Support Specialist is contemplating retirement in January. DHS is waiting for the official resignation letter. Spuhler is continuing to mentor new NIMC workers. Currently mentoring a worker Vilas County. Spuhler met with Deb Morrissey from Bayfield County Housing Authority to assist housing consumers with WHEAP applications. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield EOC September 28, 2017 3 Family Services – Cheryl Hanson On August 30th Hanson met with Red Cliff Human Services Director Rebecca Benton. They discussed challenges and responsibilities of each agency. Red Cliff ICW has secured funding to hire three new case workers. It was a productive meeting. Attended the Wisconsin Indian Child Welfare Act (WICWA) review with the State/Children’s Court Improvement Program on Thursday, September 14th. The review focused on how Bayfield County meets the state and federal requirements when meeting the needs of Tribal children in the child welfare system. Improvements made since the 2014 review and areas for more improvement were. A training, highlighting new changes to the Federal ICWA standards, was held after the review. Hanson facilitated her first Family Services Advisory Committee meeting. Bev Patterson was appointed to the committee. With Patterson’s background as a retired Ashland County Child Support Director and former social worker, she is a good fit for the committee. The application date for the vacant Juvenile Justice position has been extended to October 1, 2017. Emergency detentions are holding steady. However, there are new cases where children were removed from their home for safety reasons. Monthly Reports Monthly reports reviewed and placed on file. Skulan reported that the 2017 Budget has been reviewed and the projected deficient has been reduced to $280,000. Hopefully that number will continue to decline. A resolution will be presented for recommendation to the full county board at the October DHS meeting. The resolution will request: additional 2017 spending authority; carry over of the 2016 excess of $133,000; and access to the DHS risk reserve to balance the 2017 DHS budget. Children’s Long-Term Services Wait List Elimination Plan Skulan stated that the 2017 – 2019 state budget is expected to include funds for the elimination of the CLTS wait list. There are currently seven children in Bayfield County on the waitlist. The Bayfield Wait List Elimination Plan was submitted to the state on September 15th. The children on the wait list will be served by the end of March 2018. The state is providing an allocation per child based on average state-wide costs per child. The actual plans may be higher or lower that the state average costs depending on the needs of the children to be served. Discussion Possible Action – The Children’s Community Options Program Advisory Committee recommended the appointment of two new members; a representative from the Drummond Area School District (DASD) and Jamie Goodlet or an alternative representative from the Red Cliff Early Childhood Center (ECC). BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield EOC September 28, 2017 4 Skulan remarked that both the DASD and Red Cliff ECC requested that a representative from their organization be appointed to the CCOP Advisory Committee. Furthermore, having school and early childhood representative on the committee meets best practice standards provided by the state. Motion by Schmidt, second by Fickbohm, to approve the appointments of DASD John Night or his designee, and Red Cliff ECC Jamie Goodlet or her designee to the CCOP Advisory Committee. Motion passed unanimously. Discussion and Possible Action – Recommendation from the Aging and Disability Advisory Committee to appoint Doug Defoe as the North Country Independent Living Center (NCIL) representative to the committee. Skulan stated that Martha Oie’s term expired and Doug Defoe has agreed to serve as the North County Independent Living representative to the A & D Advisory Committee. Motion by Carver, second by Schmidt, to approve the appointment of Doug Defoe as the NCIL representative to the A & D Advisory Committee. Motion passed unanimously. Discussion and Possible Action – Recommendation to appoint Deanne Allen as the Cable area citizen member to the Department of Human Services Board. Skulan stated that Supervisor Crandall had spoken to Allen about becoming a community citizen member and recommended the appointment. Motion by Carver, second by Seldal, to approve the appointment of Deanne Allen as the Cable Area Citizen Member to the Department of Human Services Board. Motion passed unanimously. Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program (WHEAP) – Review of audit and response to corrective action. Skulan stated that the Department of Administration conducted an onsite audit of the WHEAP on August 8th and 9th. The summary of the audit and response to the corrective action to fiscal operations was reviewed with the board. The Economic Support Staff Time Studies were adapted to better capture the specific WHEAP job duties performed. Wisconsin Indian Child Welfare Act (WICWA) Continuous Quality Improvement Review Skulan and Hanson reported that the WICWA onsite compliance review was conducted on May 8th and 9th. The review went well; six cases were reviewed for compliance with federal and state requirements. Areas of improvement were identified as well as areas that showed considerable improvement since the last review conducted in 2014. Open Records Request Bryne Law Office Skulan reported that an open records request was made by Bryne Law Office of Wisconsin seeking all communications or dealings between Bayfield County and CWCODE. CWCODE is the currently providing support to the obsolete software fiscal program we are currently using. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield EOC September 28, 2017 5 2017 County Projections DHS/HHS Skulan reported that the County Administrator requested information related to other county human services 2017 budget projections and their strategies to address any potential deficient. Skulan gathered the information from other county Directors at a recent meeting in Rhinelander and compiled the data. Skulan reviewed the data with the Board. All but one county at the meeting was struggling with projected 2017 deficits. Proposed 2018 DHS Budget – Status reports Skulan met with the Executive Committee and reviewed the DHS 2018 Proposed Budget on September 27th. The budget was completed within the parameters directed by the County Administrator with the exception of a request for an additional $10,000 to improve the Port Wing Senior Congregate meal site. Proposed 2018 DHS Meeting Dates Skulan reviewed the 2018 Proposed meeting dates. Other (Informational Items) A. Email from Amy Vietze, Wisconsin Department of Children and Families regarding performance measures met by Family Service Staff B. Letter from Cable Client, commending Economic Support worker, Rosie Kozeneski C. Voice mail message from RS complimenting Economic Support worker Tammy Fisher D. Alzheimer’s Association Calendar, September and October 2017 E. Advocacy Brief, September 2017, Wisconsin Aging Advocacy Network F. Health Care Advocates Outreach regarding federally funded health care center funding cliff G. Letter to Medicaid on Proposed Rule DHS 38 regarding administering drug tests to Medicaid applicants and monitoring progress and treatment. H. Graham-Cassidy, the GOP’s last health care proposal, explained with a cartoon I. Wisconsin Department of Administration WHEAP audit review compliance acceptance letter J. Voice mail message from Brenda Disability Benefit Specialist from the Aging and Disability Resource Center of Central Wisconsin complimenting Economic Support worker Tammy Fisher K. 2017 – 2019 State Biennial Budget Future Meetings A. October 26, 2017 B. December 5, 2017 (November/December meeting beginning with holiday potluck) 4:00 p.m. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING Bayfield EOC September 28, 2017 6 C. January 25, 2018 Adjournment at 5:41 p.m. Submitted by Nikki Revak, Financial Manager