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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Services Board - Minutes - 10/22/2020BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC October 22, 2020 1 Board Members Present: Jim Crandall, Larry Fickbohm, Susan Rosa by phone, Jeremy Oswald, Lona Schmidt by phone, Marty Milanowski, David Zepczyk by phone Board Members Not Present: Stephanie Defoe Haskins Others Present: Elizabeth Skulan, Jeanine Spuhler, Cheryl Hanson, Carrie Linder, Nikki Revak, Heather Gilbertson, Thomas Croteau, Lindi Olson, Mark Abeles- Allison Call to Order and Introductions Crandall called the meeting to order at 4:01 p.m. Discussion and Possible Action - Review of the September 24, 2020, Meeting Minutes Motion by Milanowski, seconded by Rosa to approve the September 24, 2020 minutes as presented. Motion passed. Opportunity for Public Comment (Limited to 3 minutes per person) none Program Presentation – Aging and Disability Resource Center or the North (ADRC-N), Aging and Disability Services Specialist Lindi Olson Lindi is an Information and Assistant Specialist for the ADRC. Half of her week is spent answering ADRC- N regional phone lines, the other half is spent working with the local ADRC Bayfield Branch and Bayfield County Residents. The ADRC-N region consists of five northern counties – Ashland, Bayfield, Iron, Price and Sawyer. It is more efficient to have a regional line and two workers each day to answer phones than it would be for each county to run their own call center. The ADRC receives questions about community resources, food shelf, home adaptions, caregiver resources, etc. Most people take the information and move forward independently. If they cannot, a referral is made to either the Elder Benefit Specialist, Disability Specialist or the Dementia Care Specialist. Most individuals seek Long Term Care Options Counseling. Once the initial call is complete, it is referred to the client’s county of residence and a worker there works on the case. The worker often has in-depth conversations with family and friends to determine the needs of the client. The ADRC can assist with: referrals to caregivers who may help in the home; Medicaid determinations that may provide funding for assisted living or nursing homes; and assisting a family and client through change. Lindi and Ann Marie have completed training to become Long Term Care Functional Screeners. Prior to this, there was a contract with Northern Lights Nursig Home to complete the screens. Having staff complete the functional screens reduces the number of new people that must be introduced into a client’s life. During the pandemic, ADRC staff has stopped meeting clients in person whenever possible. Remote meetings are conducted via phone or using Zoom Or Teams. If it is necessary to do a home visit, staff use personal protective equipment, proper distancing, and other precautionary measures to protect staff Approved at 12/1/20 BCDHS Board meeting BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC October 22, 2020 2 and the client. When face to face meetings are not conducted, ADRC staff leans more heavily on providers and family for information to meet the client’s needs. Monthly Section Reports and COVID19 Updates Aging & Disability Services – Carrie Linder • Each year Birth to 3 (B-3) is tasked with finalizing a count of children in the program on October 1st . Data msut be verified for the federal government. Data entered into the state’s Program Particpation System (PPS) site is child specific. Data in PPS is matched locally. The Birth to Three Programs does not currently have access to a Speech and Language Pathologist and the Occupational Therapist’s hours are very limited. • Carrie will be working with Red Cliff staff to provide education and outreach to health care professionals. • Kristin is currently removing three children a month from the Children Long-term Services (CLTS) waiting list. There are ten children currently on the waiting list. • The ADRC staff has transitioned to the state Wellsky database for time and task reporting. • Open enrollment for Medicare Part D began October 15, 2020. Marianne Johson has sent out information to those who received services last year. Marianne has received over 60 applications to date there were many changes in Medicare D plans this year and Marianne is helping people to change plans as needed. • Adult Protection Services (APS), has been working with clients in danger of self-neglect and/or physical and emotional abuse. Family Services – Cheryl Hanson • Last Wednesday a Family Services Advisory Committee meeting was conducted by phone. The committee welcomed new member Kylie Vadnais. Introductions revealed how much experience there is on this committee and how long members have served. Kylie will be a good fit with her school/ educational background. • Bayfield County received a grant for $14,534.00 to upgrade the technology in the forensic invterview room located in the Sheriff’s Department. It is anticipated the equipment can be installed in December or early January. • Family Service is feeling the stress of limited staff. The AODA Social Worker position is still vacant and one employee is on family medical leave. Another staff member will be going on Family Medical Leave to have a baby any day now. The remaining staff is stepping up to accept on additional responsibilities so mandated services can be performed as required. • More Child Protection Service reports are being received now that school is in session. • Emergency Detentions are down. However, there are more alcohol admission at the Behavioral Health Unit (BHU) and individuals are going to Memorial Medical Center (MMC) with much higher alcohol levels than they normally see. Comprehensive Community Services (CCS) – Tom Croteau • Duane is no longer working for Bayfield County. This has caused some anxiety for participants who worked with him. One individual has disenrolled and another has filed a complaint due to the change. • The Ashland Bayfield CCS Regional Functional Screener resigned. Each of the Bayfield CCS Service Facilitators have been trained to provide functional screens moving forward. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC October 22, 2020 3 • COVID has created challenges to a BCCS staff member with young children. The staff member has needed time off as they have been without access to child care. The employee is using paid time under the federal Emergency Family Sick Leave Act (EFSLA) for time out of the office • Tom reiterated how impressed he is with each staff member in his relatively new team. Staff are stepping up to do what needs to be done during the pandemic. Their resiliency is parallel to the resiliency staff hope to instill in participants they support on the path to recovery. Support Services – Nikki Revak • One staff member is working remotely and scheduled to return next week. Another support staff will rotate out and telecommute from home for the month of November. There is a single laptop shared by support staff telecommuing, so there is some overlap of workers in the courthouse while IT prepares the laptop for the next staff who will work remotely. • Public Health asked for assistance at their reception desk while all staff were conducting flu clinics. Jane Cook took on the responsibility and all went well. • Revak reported that when the auditors reviewed the 2019 audit with the county board, they indicated DHS turned back $645,000 from 2019 to the General Fund. Revak suspects there was a payable the auditors did not include in their report. Revak and Kathy Wolfram-Moran contacted the auditors regard the discrepance. The auditors have not yet returned the call. Revak hopes to resolve the discrepancy and will report on this again in December. Economic Support Services, Jeanine Sphuler • With the first snow there have been more calls for Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program (WHEAP). As of this week, 324 applications are complete for the 2021 heating season. Onley 637 were completed in the entire 2020 season, which just ended. With the recent changes to the economy there are more people applying looking for resources. This year the state is also offering an online platform for WHEAP applications, which many applicants are accessing. Visit https://energybenefit.wi.gov to learn more about applying online. One additional Economic Support Specialist will begin training in November to take WHEAP applications. Training will be complete in December. • Two staff are telecommuting each month. Those staff are alternating telecommuting months with two others. All ES workers now have laptop computers, which simplifies telecommuting. • A significant change in healthcare benefits for incarcerated individuals goes into effect October 24, 2020 . Healthcare coverage will be suspended rather than ended. Before the individual is released, they are to be re-evaluated and then health care can be reinstated upon their release. In addition, if individuals leave the jail for 24 hours and are admitted to a medical facility, Medicaid will cover the individual’s medical bills instead of the jail. • The State has issued Emergency Food share for October. Each household will get the maximum benefit amount for their household size. In September, the state reinstated previously waived requirements, forcing applicants to complete recertifications for benefits. For October and November, the recertifications have been waived again and benefits will continue without the recertifications. Monthly Reports Monthly reports reviewed and placed on file. A. Financial B. Training (travel is restricted, no training report) BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC October 22, 2020 4 Discussion and Possible Action, Recommend Appointment to Human Services Board -Application Mark Ludeking: Mark Ludeking is interested in filling the vacancy on the Human Services. Mark previously applied for a vacancy when Stephanie Haskins-Defoe was appointed. Aging and Disability Resource Center or the North Governing Board (ADRC-N) Bayfield County Citizen Vacancy – Ann Bartocci was recently appointed as the Bayfield County citizen member to the ADRC-N Governing Board. Unfortunately, Ann’s life circumstances changed. Ann has notified DHS she is no longer able to serve on the committee. As a result, Bayfield County is recruiting for her replacement. The vacancy must be filled by a Bayfield County citizen who meets one of the target populations of the ADRC: an individual aged 60 or older; an adult with an intellectual or developmental disability, their parent or guardian; or an adult with physical disabilities. Senior Nutrition Program Updates – Hyde’s on Buskey Bay is changing hands provided notice they will no longer provide Grab and Go Meals. The last Grab and Go meal will be served on November 18, 2020.. Grab and Go was provided in Iron River September and October. Some Port Wing residents who previously picked up a meal at the Bear Paw Cafe, went to Iron River instead. Due to both the change in weather and some seniors moving to warmer climates for the winter, there was a significant decrease of participants. No meals will be provided from November 19 to December 31, 2020. The need for Grab and Go Meals will be reevaluated in January 2021. The Home Delivered Meal (HDM) program consists of four routes. Two routes are driven by county employees and the food is provided by Chartwells. One route is prepared and delivered by the Red Cliff Elderly Nutrition Program. One route, located in the Cable/Namekagon area, is delivered by the Cable Lions Club, the food is provided by Lakewoods. The two routes driven by county employees are quite long. Drivers travel more than 200 miles a day on the county vans. Clients are getting food for lunch as early as 9:00 a.m. and as late as 2:00 p.m. Linder is working with UW-Extension on developing other options for the delivery routes. A survey will be issued to HDM participants to determine what is most important to them as options are being considered. HDM drivers have also been delivering fresh food boxes from Red Cliff to homes of HDM participants. Linder requested a list of all licensed Bayfield County food vendors from Public Health. An announcement and survey was mailed to determine if any other businesses are interested in becoming a vendor for the senior nutrition programs. The Transportation Coordinating Committee held its second meeting in early October. Committees agreed that they need more information on public transportation before developing a plan. Other (Informational Items) A. October 1, 2020 e-mail from Jeanine Spuhler to Economic Support Specialist Danielle Colby regarding Danielle’s excellent customer service. B. Rosa will provide the Governor’s Task Force on Caregiving final recommendations for the next DHS meeting and will summarize them. Motion by Milanowski, seconded by Rosa, to approve the appointment of Mark Ludeking to the Human Services Board. Motion carried. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC October 22, 2020 5 C. Abeles-Allison tipped his hat to Crandall and extended a note of appreciation to managers/supervisors and all DHS staff for the work they are doing during these difficult times. Future Meetings A. December 1, 2020 – November/December 2020 Meeting B. January 28, 2021 C. February 25, 2021 Adjournment at 5:14 p.m. Respectfully Submitted by Heather Gilbertson, Clerk II