HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Services Board - Minutes - 3/23/2023BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING
EOC & Virtual
March 23, 2023
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Board Members Present: Jeremy Oswald, Marty Milanowski, Madelaine Rekemeyer, Stephanie
Defoe-Haskins*, Sue Rosa*
(*member attendance is virtual)
Board Members Not Present: Mary Dougherty, James Crandall, Patrick Irvine, Lona Schmidt
Others Present: Elizabeth Skulan, Mary Anich, Tom Croteau, Jeanine Spuhler, Heather
Gilbertson, Stephanie Eder
Call to Order and Introductions
Oswald called the meeting to order at 4:01 p.m.
Opportunity for Public Comment (Limit 3 minutes please.)
No Public Comment
Discussion and Possible Action – Review and approval of the January 26, 2023, meeting minutes
Motion by Milanowski, second by Rekemeyer to approve the January 26, 2023, meeting minutes as
presented. Motion passed.
Program Presentation – Medicaid/BadgerCare Plus and the Impact of the Public Health Emergency
“Unwinding” – Jeanine Spuhler, Economic Support Services Section Manager
• Return to routine operations is being referred to as “unwinding”.
• Members will receive state issued notices as to when their next renewal process is scheduled.
• The Northern Income Maintenance consortium (NIMC) can email, text, or mail letters to reach
individuals about their cases and when their renewal is due.
• There are consequences to renewing too early if the household has had any change in income or
composition.
• The Bayfield County Economic Support Team has six employees.
• In February, Bayfield County had just over 2,000 health care cases. The Northern Income
Maintenance Consortium had 36,600 cases.
Monthly Section Reports
Family Services – Mary Anich
• Family Services has one vacancy. The County does not currently have the position posted to allow
for the onboarding of new employees already hired.
• Ashley Maki the newest Child Welfare Case Manager has been working towards completing her
6-month online new worker training.
• The County has two trained forensic interviewers. There has been a significant increase in
forensic interviews since the beginning of the year.
FINAL:
Approved at the
4/27/23 BCDHS Board
meeting
BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING
EOC & Virtual
March 23, 2023
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• One youth in a high-cost placement turned 18.
• A Bayfield County Foster child that had been missing since February was located this week and
returned to care.
Support Services – Stephanie Eder
• Staff are currently closing fiscal year 2022. This process will not conclude until June 2023.
• Staff are also working on 2023 fiscal year items.
Behavioral Health & Community Programs – Tom Croteau
• Behavioral Health staff continue working with several Mental Health cases that require a lot of
time and energy and resulted in expensive placements.
• Approximately 70 percent of the Mental Health budget for the year has been expended through
February. Medicaid and Medicare funds will offset some of these Mental Health costs.
• Staff continue working through delicate mental health cases which include multiple youth
emergency detentions.
• Croteau awarded several prevention grants to Voices in Recovery and the Bayfield County Alcohol
and Other Drug Abuse (AODA) Prevention Coalition.
• Work continues with the ECHO Advantage program to build a new Electronic Health Record (EHR)
for Comprehensive Community Services (CCS). Croteau stated the program will go live by June 1,
2023. Eleven counties in Wisconsin are using this system.
• Several CCS referrals have been for youth. CCS has grown from serving two youth in 2021 to
currently serving 13 youth. CCS has a total of 49 active participants.
• The opioid survey has been distributed to residents.
• Due to a separation with an employee this past week, more responsibility has been placed on the
remaining staff.
Aging & Disability (A&D) Services – Carrie Linder
• Ann Marie Mackin completed the Dementia Care Pathway Certificate Program at Northwoods
Technical College.
• Tony Budreau, Investigator with the Bayfield County Sheriff’s department and Linder went to
multiple banks located in Bayfield County to discuss the financial exploitation of seniors.
• Jamie Mackin, Disability Benefit Care Specialist, will be out of the office for 12 weeks. During this
time, Jamie’s counterpart in Sawyer County will be helping with his cases.
Economic Support Services – Jeanine Spuhler
• Staff are continuing to learn about the unwinding process.
• They are also learning or reviewing the pre-pandemic policies that have or will be reinstated.
• Spuhler was excited to report Stix and Stones is a wood vendor for the Wisconsin Home Energy
Assistance Program (WHEAP) in Bayfield County. Bayfield County has not had a wood vendor in
several years.
• There are still two months left of WHEAP season. However, the state is almost out of WHEAP
funding.
• Bayfield County Issued over $200,000 in crisis payments last year versus $28,000 this year.
BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING
EOC & Virtual
March 23, 2023
K:\Agendas and Minutes\DHS Board\Minutes\2023 DHS Board Minutes\2023-03-23_BCDHS_Board_meeting_minutes -final.docx 3
• Furnace repairs and replacements have increased this year, 53 affected households versus 37
households last year.
Monthly Reports
Monthly Financial and Training reports were reviewed and placed on file.
Discussion and Possible Action – Consideration and request to approve appointments of Dee Sweet
and Alice Evenson to the Aging and Disability Advisory Committee.
Motion by Milanowski, second by Rekemeyer to approve the appointments of Dee Sweet and Alice
Evenson to the Aging and Disability Advisory Committee. Motion passed.
Discussion and Possible Action – Consideration and request to recommend to the County Board Chair
the appointment of Mary Daugherty as the Bayfield County Board representative to the Aging and
Disability Center of the North (ADRC-N) Governing Board.
Motion by Milanowski, second by Rosa to recommend to the County Board Chair the appointment of
Mary Daugherty as the Bayfield County Board representative to the Aging and Disability Center of the
North (ADRC-N) Governing Board. Motion passed.
Human Services Day at the Capital – April 12, 2023
• Croteau, Linder, Skulan and Crandall will be the Bayfield County Team going to Human Services
Legislative Day at the Capital.
• Topics will include Birth to Three, Mental Health, Adult Protective Services, and Child Support.
Other (Informational Items)
• Wisconsin Counties Association (WCA) 2023-25 State Biennial Budget Summary – Summary of the
proposed Governor’s state budget for the next biennium.
• Will Wisconsin’s Direct Care Program change the Field, Robert Espinoza, PHI EVP of Policy,
REspinoza@PHINational.org
• SNAP For Older Adults, Eating Better on a Fixed Income: What you can Buy for $23 in SNAP Benefits
• DHD will be seeking a new position in CCS - Service Facilitator/Substance Abuse
Counselor/Substance Abuse Counselor in Training
Future Meetings
A. April 27, 2023
B. May 25, 2023
C. June 22, 2023
Oswald Adjourned the meeting at 5:00 pm.
Submitted by Heather M. Gilbertson, Clerk III