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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Services Board - Minutes - 6/28/2019BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING County Board Room June 28, 2019 Board Members Present: Larry Fickbohm, Kent Seldal, Jim Crandall, Jeremy Oswald, Lona Schmidt, Susan Rosa, Aimee Kaufmann Board Members Excused: Tom Gordon, George Newago Others Present: Elizabeth Skulan, Nikki Revak, Carrie Linder, Jeanine Spuhler, Cheryl Hanson Call to Order and Introductions Crandall called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. Review of the May 23, 2019 Meeting Minutes Motion by Crandall, second by Kaufmann, to approve the minutes as presented. Motion passed unanimously. Public Comment – Limited to 3 minutes per person none Open the Floor for Public Hearing Motion by Oswald at 4:03 p.m., seconded by Schmidt, to Open the floor for Public Hearing. Motion passed unanimously. Opportunity for Public Comment on 2020 Budget and/or Comments Regarding Bayfield County’s Policies and procedures for Equal Opportunity in Employment, Service Delivery and Language Access. Bob Fredericks – Northlakes Community Clinic Fredericks spoke about concerns related to the Comprehensive Community Services (CCS) Program. Fredericks felt that CCS participants were not kept well informed and many participants were adversely affected when the program administration was transitioned from a local contractor to Bayfield County. Andrew Austin – Comprehensive Community Services (CCS) Participant Austin also spoke about concerns and issues related to the CCS program (see handout). Seldal asked how the DHS would respond to the concerns. Skulan stated that the Public Hearing is meant to collect comments and input only. It is not meant as a platform to collect and respond to complaints or concerns. All complaints and/or concerns are investigated and responded to in a formal manner after the meeting. Skulan noted that the CCS program update later in the agenda may offer current program information to Austin and Fredericks. Review Written Comments Skulan reviewed the Provider Input fax from Kim Marble-Follis – CASDA (Center Against Sexual & Domestic Abuse) BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING County Board Room June 28, 2019 2 Program Presentation – Weatherization, Economic Support, Jeanine Dennis Lutz has worked for Ashland County Housing- Weatherization for 30 years and has been the Director for 12 years. The organization offers four energy related programs to Bayfield Cunty residents who meet eligibility criteria for the Wisconsin Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. They are: 1. HOME Rehabilitation Program 2. Weatherization 3. Emergency Furnace 4. HCRI (Hickory) Program – If wanting to purchase a home, come to us first and we can see if this program will work for you. Monthly Section Reports Aging & Disability Services – Carrie Linder • Bodin & Mack distributed more than 130 senior farmers market nutrition vouchers. • There have been two understanding Alzheimer’s events. • World Elder Abuse day was June 15th. • A&D hosted drug drop sites at all senior meal sites. • Staff participated with Red Cliff tribal agencies at Legendary waters for a presentation. • Mackin (Ann Marie) set up a Facebook page for the ADRC – Bayfield County local branch. • Linder mentored the new Ashland County Aging Director who started in May. • A & D Section was nominated for and was awarded the Department of the Year at the Bayfield County Annual Employee Picnic! Support Services – Nikki Revak • On Monday Skulan and Revak participated in the quarterly ADRC-N Governing Board Meeting. Discussion centered on information needed to decide if the ADRC-N consortium will continue or to disband. This is still in the early stages of fact gathering. • Completed the 2019 ADRC-N Update Plan for the state last week. • Working on CCS invoice procedures and processes. • The Single Audit, which is the program compliance piece of the audit was conducted the week of June 10th. The Baker Tilley team was easy to work with but asked more questions than previous auditors. It was a good experience for staff and auditors. • The draft of the Annual DHS 2018 Report is complete. Thanks to all the support staff for assisting in this project. • Working on the Wisconsin Medicaid Cost Report (WIMCR) tool due to the State on Friday, June 28, 2019. It has been difficult to secure information necessary to complete the report from the previous CCS and CSP vendor. The data in the information provided often contradicts itself. This report has taken much longer than any of the other reported years. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING County Board Room June 28, 2019 3 Family Services – Cheryl Hanson • The State of Wisconsin is rolling out Family Finding and Engagement training to foster the reunification of children: o We will be sending five staff to 4.5 days of training in Hayward o The State of Wisconsin compares poorly in the reunification of children with parents on the Federal Level. • Family Services started a Closed Facebook Group for Foster Care Providers – Belanger, Hanson and Schmidt monitor the information shared on the site. • Foster families were polled to decide the location of the Summer gathering. Moon Lake Park in Iron River received the majority vote. • The Child Protection Team in Red Cliff meets monthly. It has been beneficial to have DHS staff included on the team to discuss shared cases. Economic Support Services – Jeanine Spuhler • There is currently a vacant position in ES. Interviews were recently held. • Due to the high work load more workers are needed on the regional call center. • The State of Wisconsin announced that staff who administer food share must now pre- certify cases. Beginning July, a second set of eyes will review all cases that receive a high level of monthly benefits. • The State of Wisconsin updated the statewide computer system, which resulted in some glitches that are being corrected. • The State of Wisconsin has issued postcards to clients reminding them to establish childcare before the next school year begins. Crandall asked that CCS Program update be moved next on the agenda, so the information was available while community members from the Public Hearing portion of the meeting were still present. Comprehensive Community Services (CCS) Program – Status Update • Seldal asked what process will be used to respond to comment from Austin presented at the Public Hearing. Skulan said that a formal response will be issued to Austin and will be included in the next DHS Board packet. • An article from the Superior Telegram regarding Douglas County’s projected deficit in mandated services for 2019 was reviewed. Due to the increase in annual costs related to mandated services, the Douglas County Board has decided not to implement a Comprehensive Community Service (CCS) program at this time. Skulan will rescind the application to expand the CCS region to Douglas County. • Bayfield County has hired three full-time CCS staff and are contracting with Ashland County for five shared services positions. The transition has been a struggle and has been difficult for CCS participants and staff. Two shared staff have reported that they are already at full capacity. • Ashland and Bayfield Counties are both trying to contract with additional providers to expand CCS services to clients. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING County Board Room June 28, 2019 4 • Ashland and Bayfield Counties have requested current providers consider expanding their services to meet the needs of CCS participants. • All Bayfield County CCS participants have had contact with their Service Facilitator. • Bayfield County has submitted Waivers for Audits for New Horizons North, Inc. for fiscal 2018 & 2019. • Seldal asked for a timeline to filling the gaps in service. Skulan stated that the timeline is unknown, but stipulated Ashland and Bayfield Counties have identified the CCS program as a priority and continue to move forward. • Hanson reiterated that staff are focusing efforts on identifying providers to fill gaps in service but reminded the Committee that CCS was not the only service that New Horizons North provided. As a result, local providers are also trying to meet the programmatic needs for other programs in the community. • DHS Board members were asked to continue to advocate for the CCS program. Although the CCS program is not a mandated service, it is a valuable service to the individuals who need it. Monthly Reports Monthly reports reviewed and placed on file. Medicaid Expansion by the Numbers Video A memo included in the board packet has a link to the Medicaid Expansion by the Numbers Video. The video explains how the savings that would result from Medicaid expansion were calculated for the budget. 2020 Budget - Preparation Memo to Department Heads – June 1, 2018; Budget Preparation Memo to Department Heads and the WCA Budget Summary of Department of Children and Families and Department of Health Services Skulan noted that the memo from the County Administrator provides direction on development of the 2020 budget. Rainbow Family of the Living Light Annual Gathering 2019 The largest non-organization of non-members in the world has scheduled their annual family gathering in the Chequamegon National Forest at Canthook Lake, near Iron River in Bayfield County from July 1st to July 7th, 2019. More information can be found at https://go.usa.gov/xmjj5. Hanson met with managers and law enforcement to discuss circumstances that might occur during the gathering. Officers do not believe there is currently any concern for child protective services (CPS). However, Hanson noted that there have seen issues with runaways during previous gatherings. Family Service staff is strategizing on how to deal with issues that may arise. Hanson and staff have developed a contingency plan for multiple situations should any occur simultaneously over the holiday. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING County Board Room June 28, 2019 5 Local Management Data – Comparisons for Management Position Skulan reviewed the compensation schedules worksheet for similar positions near Bayfield County. This stemmed from an inquiring at the May meeting from Supervisor Fickbohm for data comparisons for the vacant DHS Family Services Manager and where Bayfield County fell in the mix. Discussion and Possible Action – Draft 2018 Annual Report A Draft of the 2018 Annual Report was added to Drop Box. Members wanted more time to review the report, so Crandall postponed the discussion to the July meeting. Aging and Disability Resource Center of the North (ADRC-N) – Status Update ADRC of the North (ADRC-N) Governing Board Meeting held on Monday, June 24, 2019. The meeting lasted approximately one hour. The Board discussed the upcoming changes to ADRC allocations proposed by the state beginning January 2020. The regional incentives used to operate the regional ADRC will be eliminated. The incentive is $40,000 per county or $200,000 per year. Since the Regional Coordinator has given notice, it is necessary plan based on the future needs of the ADRC. One option that is being considered is for the five counties to run their ADRCs independently at the county level. All ADRC requirements will still need to be met. The regional phone system, the information system – (Nightingale Notes), the Regional ADRC Coordinator, and annual increases for regional staff are big cost drivers for the regional entity. There is a statewide database, which is accessible at no cost to the counties. Part of any plan will be to transfer data and use the resource in the future. Close the Floor to Public Comment on the 2020 Department of Human Services Budget and Comments Regarding Bayfield County’s Policies and Procedures for Equal Opportunity in Employment, Service Delivery and Language Access Motion by Seldal at 5:48 p.m., second by Schmidt to close the floor to Public Hearing on the 2020 Budget. Motion passed unanimously. Other (Informational Items) A. Letter, Input into draft Chapter DHS 1 rule B. Rosa applied to be on the Governors’ Taskforce for Caregiving. She is a finalist. Future Meetings A. July 25, 2019 B. August 22, 2019 C. September 26, 2019 Adjournment at p.m. 5:55 Submitted by the Heather Gilbertson, Clerk II BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING County Board Room June 28, 2019 6