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Minute Approval: Schmidt made a motion to approve the April 13th, 2022, FSAC
meeting minutes as written. Lindell seconded the motion and the motion passed.
BAYFIELD COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES
FAMILY SERVICES ADVISORY COMMITTEE (FSAC) MEETING MINUTES
Courthouse Conference Room A & Remote
Wednesday, July 13th 2022, at 4:30 pm
Committee Members Present: Mary Dougherty, Lona Schmidt, Bev Patterson, Nancy &
Dale Johnson, Bev Lindell (all via telephone)
Committee Members Absent: Wayne Crozier
Others Present: Mary Anich (Family Services Section Manager), Elizabeth Skulan-Peppy
(Human Services Director) and Sarah Traaholt (Support Staff).
Introductions and Call to order: Schmidt called the meeting to order at 4:30.
Public Comment Opportunity: No public comment.
New Committee Member/Recruitment/Resignation: Committee member vacancy
remains open due to Kylie Vadnais’ resignation. Human Services is working on advertising for
the position. Application for Citizen Committee Member can be found on the Bayfield County
website under employment https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/bayfieldco.
Opportunities on how to spread the word about the vacancy were discussed.
Staffing Updates: Anich noted that Tom Croteau, as of July 1st, has taken over supervision
of both Behavioral Health Case Manager positions. One position is filled by Evan Maki and the
other Behavioral Health Case Manager position has been posted, as August Gordon has
transitioned from Behavioral Health Case Manager to the Youth Justice Case Manager. Anich
and Croteau have been co-supervising since 2021 and will continue to work closely as the
behavioral health staff offices remain in the Family Services section; services provided by both
sections continue to overlap; and on-call and youth intake rotation will still be a part of the
behavioral health position duties.
Recruitment continues for vacant Child Protective Services Case Manager position.
Anich stated that Bayfield County is fortunate to have valued and quality staff who continue to
grow in skill and knowledge of these complex programs.
Program reports: Anich reports there is an uptick in challenging cases and behaviors,
especially with one youth. Resources are sparse and have proven even more so with complex
cases which results in frustrations with both clients and staff. Ashley Miller, August Gordon and
Anich met with the Resources Connection team through Wisconsin Association of Family and
Minutes were approved
at the 1/11/2023 FSAC
meeting
2 K:\Agendas and Minutes\Family Services Advisory Committee\FSAC Minutes\2022 FSAC minutes\2022-07-13_FSAC_Meeting minutes-final.docx
Children’s Agencies to present the difficulty in placing a difficult youth case and to ask for help
in finding other resources.
Foster homes are currently at capacity in Bayfield County which is making placement difficult.
Briana Aldaba, Foster/Kinship Coordinator is working on securing additional foster homes in
our area.
There will be a foster care recruitment meet and greet from 3-7 p.m. on July 28th at Moon
Lake Campground pavilions. Interested folks can just drop by for information. Patterson stated
she would help spread the word about the foster home event and need for homes at her
church.
Anich and Briana Aldaba met with Red Cliff Indian Child Welfare (ICW) for monthly joint
staffing of out of home cases where Bayfield County serves as fiscal agent for a large portion
of Red Cliff’s placements. This also includes gathering information on new and ongoing cases
and adhering to state and federal documentation and requirements for out of home
placements. Red Cliff and Bayfield County continue to have different legal opinions on how
Child Protective Services (CPS) investigations that include tribal children living on the
reservation must be conducted. However, Red Cliff continues to do an excellent job of taking
care of their community and both organizations end goals remain the same.
Youth Justice court referrals are down. Many cases are now being handled without court
involvement.
Informational Items:
Anich and Richard Kamm continue to attend “Applied Learning Communities” training focused
on CPS danger threats. Training helps to identify and examine present and impending danger
while screening child protective services reports.
Schmidt inquired if the new Youth Assessment and Screening Instrument (YASI) software was
working well. Anich reported that Kamm has only been able to use it for one case, but it is
hopeful that it will be much better than the previous screening document.
Lindell inquired about extra money for mental health in the wake of all of the school shootings.
Skulan reported that the Wisconsin County Association is lobbying the State for more money
for mental health needs, highly geared toward youth participants.
Family Services section will have a unit retreat on Friday, July 15.
Future Meetings: Meetings will continue quarterly on the second Wednesday of the month
with the last 2022 meeting falling on October 12th.
Adjournment: Schmidt adjourned the meeting at 4:59 pm.
Minutes respectfully submitted by,
Sarah Traaholt
Sarah Traaholt