HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Services Board - Minutes - 5/3/2022BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING
EOC & Virtual
May 3, 2022
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Board Members Present: Marty Milanowski, James Crandall, Susan Rosa (joined virtually at
4:05), Jeremy Oswald, Lona Schmidt (virtual), Mary Dougherty,
Madelaine Rekemeyer
Board Members Not Present: Stephanie Defoe Haskins
Others Present: Elizabeth Skulan(virtual), Mary Anich (virtual), Stephanie Eder,
Jeanine Spuhler (virtual), Carrie Linder, Heather Gilbertson, Jan
Kasperson
Call to Order and Introductions
Crandall called the meeting to order at 4:02 p.m. and introductions were made.
Opportunity for Public Comment
No Public Comment
Discussion and Possible Action – Review of the March 23, 2022, Meeting Minutes
Motion by Malinowski, second by Rekemeyer to approve the March 23, 2022, meeting minutes
as presented. Motion passed.
Election of Officers
Discussion and Possible Action – Crandall opened the floor and called for nominations for DHS
Chair (three times, no seconds required). Oswald nominated Crandall for DHS Chair.
Motion by Milanowski, second by Oswald to approve Crandall for the DHS Chair. Motion passed.
Discussion and Possible Action – Crandall opened the floor and called for nominations for Vice
Chair (three times, no seconds required). Milanowski nominated Oswald for Vice Chair.
Motion by Milanowski, second by Rekemeyer to approve Oswald for Vice Chair. Motion passed.
Program Presentation – Family Services, Mary Anich: Child Protective Services (CPS)
• Receive reports of concerns regarding youth suspected of being abused or neglected.
• Follow State of Wisconsin standards for screening decisions.
• Five things a screener looks for: immediate danger, significant danger, observable
danger, danger is occurring or in process of occurring, severity of danger.
• Screening decisions are made.
• Reasons to screen out a report may include: the child is 18 or older; family cannot be
located; allegations do not meet statutory definition of abuse or neglect.
• eWISACWIS (electronic Wisconsin Automated Child Welfare Information System) is a
database social workers use to enter data related to child abuse and neglect
investigation and ongoing case management notes. Workers can locate the history of a
FINAL: Approved at
the 5/26/22 BCDHS
Board meeting
BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING
EOC & Virtual
May 3, 2022
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case or family even the history was in another county in the state. If a family has a case
that is still open with another county, a coordinated response can be developed.
• Law enforcement is informed of CPS reports. If the situation is or may be unsafe for the
social worker to proceed on their own, law enforcement will accompany the social
worker.
Monthly Section Reports
Aging & Disability (A & D) Services – Carrie Linder
• Linder met with Ashland County to review performance measures and provide feedback
regarding the performance of the shared Birth to Three Coordinator. The Birth to Three
Coordinator is an employee by Ashland County and Bayfield County contracts for some
of their time.
• Hayley Weyers- Youth Support and Services Coordinator currently had 37 children on
her case load for Children’s Long-Term Care (CLTS). Linder reports that are another five
new referrals.
• Bayfield County has contracted out with Forward Horizons to provide case management
services to a few cases to address this. DHS is also petitioning for another full-time
position.
• A review of CLTS cases was conducted by Metastar. Fifteen case files were reviewed. In
prior years, due to the lower number of children served, the review was three to five
files. The number of case files reviewed is based on the program census.
• Aging and Disabilities Resource Center of the North (ADRC-N) has a new regional
coordinator, Natasha McFadden.
• ADRC - N has installed a new phone system.
• An ADRC state meeting was held last week. There are many changes anticipated with
the unraveling of COVID policies.
• In person Long Term Care (LTC) functional screens were waivered during the pandemic.
Screen were conducted by phone, Teams, or by speaking with local health care systems.
In person functional screens have now resumed.
• Five congregate meal sites are open, (Barnes, Cornucopia, Iron River, Port Wing &
Washburn). Thirty volunteers have been trained to work at the meal sites.
• Bayfield County Food Service is providing congregate meals in Port Wing, Cornucopia
and Washburn and one northern route for home delivered meals.
• Lider stated Bayfield County A&D is partnering with Red Cliff in recognition of World
Elder Abuse Awareness Day in June as part of our Outreach program. The Boys and Girls
Club will be participating in fun educational activities for this event. The day will end
with a barbeque hosted by the Red Cliff Elders.
• An outreach table for A&D services will also be staffed at the South Shore Emergency
Medical Services (EMS) Day in Herbster.
BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING
EOC & Virtual
May 3, 2022
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Support Services – Stephanie Eder
• This section provides fiscal and clerical support for the Human Services Department.
• Completed the 2021 reconciliation for Children’s Long-Term Care (CLTS), Birth to Three
(B3) & Children’s Community Options Programs (CCOP).
• Eder completed and submitted the High- Cost Pool Fund for Tribal Court Placement
application.
• The Department of Transportation (DOT) annual financial report was completed for
2021.
• Staff are collecting information for the Annual Report for 2021. The first draft will be
ready for review at the June DHS Board meeting.
Economic Support Services – Jeanine Spuhler
• Katy Hansen joined the Economic Support Team on April 25, 2022. Hansen is busy
completing new worker training and state required prerequisites.
• Efforts continue to recruit for a new position created by the Northern Income
Maintenance Consortium (NIMC).
• Disconnection notices were mailed out by providers to clients who are behind on their
bills. High energy costs have placed financial burdens on residents in Bayfield County,
especially for those on a fixed income.
• The Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program (WHEAP) season will end May 15,
2022. Outreach is being conducted at congregate meal sites to inform residents of the
heating program and the crisis benefits available throughout the year.
• Spuhler stated they have been working with families displaced by a fire in the City of
Bayfield.
• Food share benefits distributed by Bayfield County reached $1.5 million in the first four
months of 2022.
• Public benefits have been issued to 3,383 Bayfield County residents. This number does
not include households who received WHEAP benefits only, which is an additional 650
households.
• Benefit changes are forthcoming. When the Federal Health Emergency ends, household
will no longer receive the maximum amount of FoodShare allocations for the size of the
household. The monthly allocation will be based on income and household size.
• Statewide Income Maintenance Consortium staff will implement a more gradual
progression to reduce health insurance benefits as new applications and renewals are
processed.
Comprehensive Community Services (CCS) – Tom Croteau
• Enrollment has stabilized, participants served are in the low forties.
• DHS has been recruiting for another service facilitator and Vanessa Sowl has accepted
the position. Sowl’s first day of work will be May 16, 2022.
• Innovative Wisconsin, LLC, a vendor who works with CCS participants on individual skill
development, has experienced ongoing turnover. As a result, they have discontinued
providing services.
BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING
EOC & Virtual
May 3, 2022
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• The two Behavioral Health positions currently in Family Services will transition to the
CCS Section in 2022.
Family Services – Mary Anich
• Accepted Melissa Huempfner’s resignation.
• Evan Maki joined the team April 4, 2022, as a Behavioral Health Case manager.
• The Family First initiative is moving forward. The goal of the program is to finds ways to
keep children safely in their homes with family members and provide better congregate
care for those children who must be placed in residential care due to their complex
needs.
• New staff are being or have been trained to perform on-call duties.
• Richard Kamm and Anich are attending a six month long Applied Learning Communities
(ALC) with colleagues around the state to find ways to improve the consistency of child
protective services decisions using the state standards. Surrounding counties Iron,
Ashland, Sawyer, and Douglas Counties also have staff participating in the ALC, which
will be useful from a regional perspective.
Monthly Reports
Monthly Financial and Training reports were reviewed and placed on file.
Discussion and Possible Action – DHS recommended the approval of Bill Bland’s appointment
to the Aging and Disabilities Advisory Committee. Bland comes highly recommended by Mary
Dougherty.
Motion by Dougherty, second by Milanowski to approve Bland’s appointment to the Aging and
Disability Services Advisory Committee. Motion passed.
Discussion and Possible Action – DHS proposed a recommendation to the County Board Chair
for the reappointment of Susan Rosa, Citizen Member from the Cable Area to the Human
Services Board. Rosa’s current term expired June 2021. If reappointed, Rosa’s term would be
June 2021 to June 2024.
Motion by Milanowski, second by Dougherty to recommend Rosa’s appointment to the Human
Services Board for the term June 2021 to June 2024. Motion passed.
Discussion and Possible Action – DHS proposed a recommendation to the County Board Chair
for the appointment of Patrick Irvine, Citizen Member from the City of Bayfield, or
Surrounding Area to the Human Services Board. Irvine’s application was vetted by the County
Administrator.
Motion by Dougherty, second by Rekemeyer to recommend Irvine’s appointment to the Human
Services Board for the term June 2022 to June 2025. Motion passed.
BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING
EOC & Virtual
May 3, 2022
K:\Agendas and Minutes\DHS Board\Minutes\2022 DHS Board Minutes\2022-05_03_BCDHS_Board_meeting_minutes - final.docx 5
Discussion and Possible Action – S85.21 Transportation Co-Payment Waiver Policy
• There was some discussion regarding how/if other counties are waiving co-payments
and whether Bayfield County should waive copayments for clients who cannot afford
them but still need public transportation. Fees could be covered by the S85.21 grant
can be used to provide the co-payments for the elderly and disabled.
Follow Up – Social Worker On-Call Policy- Changes made by the Bayfield County Personnel
Committee
The Personnel Committee made the following changes to the on-call policy:
1.) On call reimbursement was increased from $1.50 per hour to $2.00 per hour.
2.) The minimum compensatory time accrued for phone calls was increased from a half
hour to one hour, allowing for one minimum in a 60-minute period for multiple calls.
3.) A minimum compensatory time accrued of two hours was established for mobilized
response while on-call.
These changes will go into effect as of the beginning of the next payroll, Saturday, April 16th.
Department of Human Services Restructure – Transitioning of Behavioral Health Services and
Change of Comprehensive Community Services Section to the Behavior Health and
Community Programs Section
The two Behavioral Health positions will transition from the Family Services Section to the
CCS Section on July 1, 2022. The CCS Section will be renamed the Behavioral Health and
Community Programs Section at the same time. This change has been discussed for the past
three years within the department. CCS and Family Services staff will be working closely
together during the transition and there will be ongoing collaboration between the sections
as the Behavior Health staff will continue to be in the on-call rotation.
Other (Informational Items)
None
Future Meetings
A. May 26, 2022
B. June 23, 2022 (this meeting will be held in the County Board Room and will include the
Public Hearing on the 2023 DHS Budget and Opportunity for Comments Regarding
Bayfield County’s Policies and Procedures for Equal Opportunity Employment, Service
Delivery, and Language Access)
Crandall Adjourned the meeting at 5:39 pm.
Submitted by Heather Gilbertson, Clerk III