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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Services Board - Minutes - 6/25/2020BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC June 25, 2020 1 Board Members Present: Jim Crandall, Larry Fickbohm, Susan Rosa, Jeremy Oswald, Lona Schmidt, Marty Milanowski, David Zepczyk, Kent Seldal (connected at 4:10) Board Members Excused: Stephanie Haskins Others Present: Elizabeth Skulan, Carrie Linder, Jeanine Spuhler, Cheryl Hanson, Nikki Revak, Sarah Traaholt Call to Order and Introductions Crandall called the meeting to order at 4:07 p.m. Roll call taken. Discussion and Possible Action - Review of the May 28, 2020 Meeting Minutes Open the Floor for Public Hearing or Public Comment - Limited to 3 minutes per person Opportunity for Public Comment on 2021 Budget and/or Comments Regarding Bayfield County’s Policies and Procedures for Equal Opportunity in Employment, Service Delivery and Language Access – Limited to 3 minutes per person None Review Any Written Comments Written comments were shared from: Becky Pogatchnik, Division Director from Arrowhead Juvenile Center; Ann Anderson from Home Care Advantage; Hayley Weyers from Forward Horizons and Kathy Claremboux, Kinship Care Provider. Program Presentation – Senior Nutrition Program, Michele Reiswig, Social Worker Aide, Aging and Disability Services Section Linder introduced Michelle Reiswig, Aging and Disability Social Worker Aide, and gave a brief recap of program information presented at the May 28th Human Services Board meeting. Reiswig presented on Senior Nutrition Program. As of March 16, Congregate Meals were suspended due to COVID-19. Home Delivered Meals continued. Program eligibility was modified to include seniors who are socially isolating due to the pandemic to serve more seniors. Grab and Go meal service was initiated once each week in Bayfield County at two sites. Motion by Rosa at 4:09 p.m., seconded by Zepczyk, to Open the floor for Public Hearing. Motion passed. Motion by Schmidt, seconded by Zepczyk, to approve the May 28, 2020 minutes as presented. Motion passed. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC June 25, 2020 2 The Bear Paw Café in Port Wing and near the Iron River Community Center in Iron River, meal provided by Hyde’s on Buskey Bay. Grab and Go is a program that allows seniors to drive up and collect a prepared and packaged fresh meal. The program was introduced on June 16, 2020 in Port Wing and on June 17, 2020 in Iron River. Congregate meals are not expected to reopen for some time. Linder states problems are being resolved with the program as they arrive. Available funding and expenses will be monitored. The program will only be provided as long as there is funding to support it. Monthly Section Reports Support Services –Nikki Revak Auditors are still sending in questions, but the audit is mostly complete. The audit was conducted remotely due to the pandemic. DHS staff were invited to attend exit interview this year. There were a couple of findings in the Comprehensive Community Service (CCS) program during the time period when the program was still contracted through New Horizon’s North, Inc. and they were closing their doors. New Horizons North, Inc. filed bankruptcy in May 2019. Front staff reported an increase in calls and walk-ins. There have been many questions regarding: grab and go meals, congregate meals, home delivered meals, farmers market vouchers, Family Service programs, and COVID19 related calls. COVID calls were rerouted to Public Health. The office suite, referred to as Suite B, was restructures so support staff can be appropriately distanced when they return to work at the courthouse. Information Technology (I.T.) installed new scanner for Northern Income Maintenance Consortium (NIMC) documents. The scanner is working well. Support Staff are thankful to have the new, very efficient scanner. Department of Human Services (DHS) staff will be returning to Bayfield County. Some each week beginning June 22, 2020. All DHS staff will return to the office by July 6, 2020. Family Services Manager, Cheryl Hanson Hanson is now working at the courthouse full time. Previously she was working from home. Presley Nuutinen was hired and will work remotely for one week beginning Monday, June 22, 2020 as the Family Specialist. Presley’s will complete online trainings and orientation during her first week of employment. Presley will report to the office full-time beginning Monday, June 29, 2020. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC June 25, 2020 3 Chris Beirl, former Family Specialist, was offered and accepted the Comprehensive Community Service (CCS) Service Facilitator position, filling a vacancy left by Julie Winter. Bayfield and Ashland County CCS jointly investigated a complaint filed regarding a staff in a contracted position. The individual, employed by Headwaters, Inc. was terminated as a result of the investigation. Congratulations go out to Susan Miller who passed her Social Work exam to become a certified Social Worker in the State of WI. Social Workers are required to be licensed in the State of Wisconsin. Staff who wish to be employed as a Social Worker who are not certified must have wither a temporary license or a training certificate until they become certified. This is a requirement of the job. There is still one Social Worker vacancy. The Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse (AODA) Social Worker Position remains open. Position is posted again. Economic Support – Jeanine Spuhler Clients are reporting to the Northern Income Maintenance Consortium (NIMC) that they are returning to work, but some with reduced hours. Economic Support determines eligibility for the Public Assistance Programs known as the “safety net”. Through the pandemic, the state has been trying to stabilize vulnerable households and the economy through these programs. If individuals or families had health care (BadgerCare) before the pandemic, to date they have not lost coverage for the duration of the pandemic. Things are now returning, in that normal processes are beginning to resume and a significant increase in workload is anticipated. NIMC received 1200 phone calls this week. The moratorium on utility disconnection will be lifted as of July 25th. The deadline was expanded from April 1 due to the pandemic. Utility companies can then pursue disconnecting heat and electric services due to non-payment. Aging & Disability Services – Carrie Linder As reported earlier by Michele Reiswig, A & D staff have been reconfiguring programs offered during the pandemic. Grab and Go weekly meal pickup program has been well received. Applications were mailed out for Farmer’s Market vouchers. Pre-COVID the vouchers were distributed via outreach sites in the county. Of the 154 vouchers available, to date 134 were distributed to area seniors. The Annual Resource Directory has been printed. Since the Senior Exo was cancelled, the number of printed copies was reduced. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC June 25, 2020 4 Motion by Oswald, second by Milanowski to approve the Resolution 2020-02 Resolution to Restructure the Transportation Coordinating Committee. Motion passed. The next edition of the Living Well newsletter will be mailed shortly. Linder has been working with Land Records to create a targeted list to reach more seniors in rural areas for another mailing. Many of these seniors do not have computers and have no on-line presence. A parent of a child enrolled in the Children’s Long Term Services (CLTS) program lodged a complaint with the state. Department of Health Services, Bureau of Children Service staff have been involved in meetings to mediate concerns and allow plans to move forward. It is the goal of the meetings to complete the current project and then for Bayfield County staff to continue to work with the family independently. Monthly Reports Monthly reports reviewed and placed on file. A. Financial B. Training (travel is restricted, no training report). 2021 Budget – Preparation Memo to Departments Heads – June 10, 2020 Departments were asked to evaluate how COVID-19 remote work impacted operations and budget. They were asked how services can be improved and more efficient. The County is returning all staff to the Courthouse to work. Then moving forward, in order to allow staff to telecommute in the future in a planful way, Departments are expected to use the established telecommuting policy which requires standards such as minimal connectivity, prohibits caretaking of others, etc. In order to mobilize staff quickly again in the event of another shut down, budget planning must include the purchase of additional laptops and other equipment that were not available when the first shut down occurred. Due to county levy budget constraints, departments are asked to: consider reorganizing department workload to reduce FTE in 2021; examine operating expenses to cut costs; continue revenue generation and search for new funding opportunities; consider whether the department could receive or provide services to another county department. Resolution 2020-02 Resolution to Restructure the Transportation Coordinating Committee The original resolution, passed in 2019, to create the Transportation Coordinating Committee, linked the committee to the Aging and Disability Advisory Committee, rather than directly to the Department of Human Services Board. This resolution corrects the error. Recommended the reappointment of Kent Seldal as the City of Washburn Citizen Member of the Human Services Board Seldal’s appointment expires at the end of June. Seldal expressed interest in reappointment. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC June 25, 2020 5 Motion by Fickbohm, second by Milanowski to recommend the reappointment of Lona Schmidt as Human Services Board citizen member from Iron River to the County Board Chair. Motion passed. Motion by Zepczyk, second by Oswald to close the floor to public comment. Motion carried. Appointment of Iron River area Citizen Member of the Human Services Board Schmidt’s appointment expires at the end of June. Schmidt expressed interest in serving one more term. High Cost Pool Fund for Tribal Court Placements and Tribal Subsidized Guardianships DHS and Red Cliff Indian Child Welfare jointly applied for High Cost Pool Funds for Tribal Placements & Subsidized Guardianship from the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. The award was for $42,589.48. Counties who paid for the placement of tribal children placed by tribal courts are eligible to apply for the funding. Red Cliff Tribe has a small kinship budget, but Bayfield County is fiscally responsible for all other out-of-home placements. Close the Floor to Public Comment on the 2021 Department of Human Services Budget and Comments Regarding Bayfield County’s Policies and Procedures for Equal Opportunity in Employment, Service Delivery and Language Access. Other (Informational Items) A. DHS Staff e-mails Rosa requested feedback on Governor’s Task Force on caregiving developed series on policy proposals. Future Meetings A. July 23, 2020 B. August 27, 2020 C. September 24, 2020 Adjournment at 5:12 p.m. Submitted by Sarah Traaholt, Clerk III Motion by Rosa, second by Fickbohm to recommend the reappointment of Kent Seldal as Human Services Board citizen member from the City of Washburn to the County Board Chair. Motion passed.