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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Services Board - Minutes - 1/28/2021BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC January 28, 2021 1 Board Members Present: Jim Crandall, Larry Fickbohm, Susan Rosa, Jeremy Oswald, Lona Schmidt, Marty Milanowski, Mark Ludeking, Stephanie Defoe Haskins, David Zepczyk, by phone Board Members Not Present: None Others Present: Elizabeth Skulan, Jeanine Spuhler, Cheryl Hanson, Carrie Linder, Stephanie Eder, Thomas Croteau, Heather Gilbertson Others: Mary Daugherty Call to Order and Introductions Due to technical difficulties, Crandall called the meeting to order at 4:08 p.m. Discussion and Possible Action – Review of the December 1, 2020, Meeting Minutes Motion by Schmidt, seconded by Ludeking to approve the December 1, 2020 minutes as presented. Motion passed. Opportunity for Public Comment (Limited to 3 minutes per person) none Program Presentation – Citizen Board Member Sue Rosa, member of the Governor’s Task Force on Caregiving, provided an overview of recommendations included in the report issued by the Taskforce. The Task Force will meet again the end of February to discuss phase two, which will focus on equity and disparities. Monthly Section Reports Economic Support – Jeanine Spuhler • There has been a gradual but large increase in participation in the FoodShare program since the beginning of the pandemic. Due to the public health emergency, the state has been issuing Emergency FoodShare benefits. Benefits have been issued at the maximum amount for the number of people in the household without regard to income. In January, $41,000,000 benefits will be issued statewide. When Wisconsin ends the public health emergency, Emergency FoodShare benefits will be discontinued. The state also increased the FoodShare benefit by 15% until end of summer. Renewals for FoodShare benefits have been postponed during the pandemic. However, the Federal government has indicated renewals must be reinstated in March 2021. • Staff are actively working with clients who have overdue heat and electric bills. Due to the health care emergency, payments of $300-$1200 can be issued to providers without requiring the customer to make a payment. • Since March 2020, all clients who were eligible for health care have continued to be eligible without completing renewals. Due to the President’s recent action, the Affordable Care Act FINAL: Approved at the March 25, 2021 BCDHS Board meeting BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC January 28, 2021 2 marketplace will have a special open enrollment period February through May. This is likely to increase workloads for consortia statewide. Aging & Disability Services – Carrie Linder • Staff is working with Jim, the AARP representative, preparing for the tax aide site. There will be AARP tax aide this year, but it will look different due to the pandemic. Individuals will pick up a packet, complete the information, make an appointment to drop off and review information with an AARP representative. The AARP representatives will complete the tax work in their homes. The individual will then be scheduled for a follow up appointment to review and sign their completed tax return. Jim expects AARP will only have the capacity to provide approximately half of the number of returns they have done in the past years. • Home Delivered Meal Driver Kelly Kiggins resigned. Bob Marx was hired for the position and began working January 18, 2021. Linder is grateful for the substitute drivers who completed the route from the end of December through the beginning of January until Marx was trained. • Youth Services Coordinator Kristin Opperman is implementing new state policies in the Children’s Long-Term Services (CLTS) program. All children on the waiting list, eight in Bayfield County, must be served by the end of March. The contract provider who is providing case management to six children is transferring some duties she performs to others in her organization in order to serve more children in the Bayfield County CLTS program. • The County has begun to provide the COVID19 vaccines to adults age 65 and older. A&D is partnering with Public Health to provide outreach to individuals who are not connected to the Internet. • Development of the 2022-2025 Aging Plan for Bayfield County has begun. Family Services – Cheryl Hanson • Hanson announced the hiring of two new employees. Mental Health Social Worker Isabel Gregersen will begin work on February 8th and Child Protective Services Social Worker Ashley Miller will begin work on February 9th. There is still a vacancy for a Behavioral Health Social Worker. • Social Worker Melissa Huempfner has returned from maternity leave. Huempfner has been working part time. Next week she will return to work full-time but will be working remotely. • Hanson has been completing state grant reports. • Eder and Hanson met recently to review an application for funding. • Now that some children are attending school in person, there are have been more child abuse and neglect reports. Domestic violence and substance abuse are often underlying causes of the most recent child abuse and neglect referrals. • There have been few Emergency Detentions recently. Memorial Medical Center Behavioral Health Unit (BHU) staff have noted a decrease in the severity of people presenting at the hospital. Methamphetamine and alcohol are still the primar cause of emergency detentions. • Hanson reported she submitted her notice of retirement. Hanson’s last day will be April 14, 2021. Comprehensive Community Services – Tom Croteau • The program was successfully recertified for two years. • CCS is currently serving 21 participants. • CCS staff are focusing on providing outreach to increase enrollment. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC January 28, 2021 3 • Croteau is working with law enforcement. He will provide information about the program to deputies. Then deputies will carry business cards with program information to distribute when they are working to individuals who may be struggling with addiction or mental health issues. • Croteau will also be working with the Veteran Services office to increase outreach to veterans. • Several referrals come directly from BHU. However, many of their referrals have not resulted in enrollments to the program. Clients in BHU may sign the CCS referral paperwork either to facilitate a quicker discharge from the hospital or because they do not understand the program or what they are signing. This results in a workload and investment of time for CCS staff without successful enrollments. Croteau is partnering with BHU staff to address this. • 2021 provider contracts are being completed. Support Services – Stephanie Eder • Nikki Revak’s last day of work was January 15, 2021. The training Eder received from Revak was invaluable. • Support Staff is short staffed due to a vacancy left by Sarah Traaholt, who accepted a promotion within the county. Support Staff received a waiver of offsite work and all Support Staff are now workin in the courthouse. Three support staff are isolated from others. All staff are very busy performing tasks that Traaholt previously performed. • More than 30 applications were received for the clerical vacancy. Ten individuals were interviewed for the position. An offer of employment was made after the first six interviews, but the individual declined the offer due to the wage offered. Another round of four interviews was held. References and background checks are underway. • Eder is happy to be working for Bayfield County. Monthly Reports Monthly Financial and Training reports were reviewed and placed on file. Discussion and Possible Action – The appointment of Michael Wells as Bayfield County citizen member to the Aging and Disability Resource Center of the North (ADRC-N) Governing Board was considered. Wells was referred by DHS Board Member Susan Rosa. Mr. Wells’ application was reviewed and vetted by the County Administrator. The application is now before the DHS Board for consideration and approval. Motion by Fickbohm, seconded by Schmidt to approve the appointment of Michael Wells as Bayfield County citizen member to the ADRC-N. Motion passed. Comprehensive Community Services (CCS) Recertification and Future Goals – The CCS program must be recertified every two years by the State of Wisconsin Department of Quality Assurance. Usually this completed during an onsite visit. However, this year due to the pandemic, the review was completed virtually. Croteau and CCS staff spent considerable time getting files in order, scanning, and send materials for the review. As indicated by the documents in the packet, the CCS program was recertified with no deficiencies. Further, the program is no longer under a Program Plan of Correction. Kudos to the CCS team! One lesson learned in the process: files can and should be kept review ready on an ongoing basis; both as best practice and to reduce the amount of work necessary to prepare for the recertification process. This will be a goal moving forward. A process has already been established. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC January 28, 2021 4 Discussion and Possible Action – Electronic Messaging and Mobile Device Policy – Croteau reviewed the draft policy included in the packet for approval. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) allow billing some remote services (e.g. text, telephone) if a provider has a policy that governs this. Croteau developed the policy. It has been reviewed by some DHS staff, the DHS Management Team, and Corporation Counsel. The final step to adopting the policy is consideration and approval by the DHS Board. Motion by Milanowski seconded by Schmidt to approve the Electronic Messaging and Mobile Device Policy. Motion passed. Wisconsin Counties Association (WCA) Human Services Issue Papers 2021 – Every year WCA, with assistance from the Wisconsin Counties Human Services Association (WCSHA), develops Human Services Issues papers. These represent issues WCA will prioritize for lobbying efforts during the year. Skulan quickly summarized the 2021 issues. Discussion and Possible Action – Resolution No. 2021-01 Resolution to Support Increased Funding for Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRC) – WCA requests all counties support a resolution to increase funding statewide for Aging and Disability Resource Centers. This resolution is related to the need for additional ADRC funding and the WCA issue paper regarding it. WCA developed the resolution and it is before the DHS Board for consideration and approval. If approved, the resolution will be forwarded to the Bayfield County Board for their consideration and approval. Motion by Malinowski, seconded by Oswald to approve Resolution No. 2021-01. Motion passed. Social Worker Increases –There is a nationwide shortage of some licensed professionals, including Social Workers. It has been exceedingly more and more difficult to recruit and retain Social Workers, particularly when neighboring counties and other local businesses offer more compensation. To address this, in July 2019, the DHS Board developed a resolution and requested the Personnel Committee: update the wage study on the position; review fringe benefits; and address any identified inequities. On January 7, 2021, the Personnel Committee reviewed the recent wage study review completed by Carlson Dettman and a recommendation from Human Resources and the County Administrator to increase all Social Worker positions by one Grade. The recommendation was approved. The change to the salaries of existing employees was minimal with a single exception. However, there is potential for existing employees to make more in the future. Increases were retroactive to January 1, 2021. 2022 Budget Memo – The Committee reviewed the December 6, 2020 memo from the County Administrator. All Departments are required to develop a plan for a 2%, 5%, and 7% budget reduction for 2022. Plans are due March 31, 2021. Any input the DHS Board has in responding to the memo is welcome. Other (Informational Items) A. Wisconsin First State in US to Offer Free Online Courses for Family Caregivers B. Wisconsin Counties Human Services Association Letter to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services Regarding COVID19 Vaccinations C. Voice Mail Regarding Home Delivered Meals D. Medical Equipment Loan – Cable UCC BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC January 28, 2021 5 Future Meetings A. February 25, 2021 B. March 25, 2021 C. April 22, 2021 Adjournment at 6:09 p.m. Submitted by Heather Gilbertson, Clerk II