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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Services Board - Minutes - 1/23/2025BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC & Virtual January 23, 2025 K:\Agendas and Minutes\DHS Board\Minutes\2025 DHS Board Minutes\2025-01-23_BCDHS_Board_meeting_minutes -FINAL.docx 1 Board Members Present: James Crandall, Marty Milanowski, Mary Dougherty (phone), Teri Hanson (virtual), Sue Rosa (virtual, arrived at 4:07), Jeff Holte Board Members Absent: Lona Schmidt Others Present: Elizabeth Skulan, Stephanie Eder, Jo Beth Gonzalez, Carrie Linder, Sarah Traaholt, Tom Croteau, Kimberly Lawton (virtual), Desiree Otterino-CASDA Bayfield /Ashland County Outreach Coordinator, Traci Cahill-Red Cliff Family Services (virtual) Call to Order and Introductions Crandall called the meeting to order at 4:06 p.m. Jeff Holte, replacing Madelaine Rekemeyer, was welcomed as the new Bayfield County Board representative. Introductions were made. Discussion and Possible Action – December 03, 2024, meeting minutes. Motion by Milanowski, seconded by Rosa to approve December 3, 2024, meeting minutes. Motion passed. Opportunity for Public Comment (Limit 3 minutes please)- Desiree Otterino, Outreach Coordinator for the Center Against Sexual and Domestic Abuse (CASDA) in Bayfield and Ashland Counties, expressed concerns regarding DHS. Skulan asked if Otterino had spoken to anyone on the DHS Management Team about her concerns. Otterino had not. Skulan suggested a meeting between Otterino and the DHS Managers to discuss and address any issues or concerns. Program Presentation – Introduction of Jo Beth Gonzalez, Family Services Section Manager, Trends and Status of Family Services Section • Gonzalez reintroduced herself to the Board as the new Family Services Manager. • Gonzalez reported she has sixteen years of experience in child welfare and worked in both Walworth and Brown Counties. • Gonzalez holds a master’s degree in social work and has training and experience in both child protective services and youth justice. • Gonzales reviewed the staffing progress for the Family Services section. Since Gonzales's arrival, the team has successfully hired a Foster Care Coordinator, a Family Specialist, and a Social Worker Aide. There are still three full-time positions vacant. • Gonzalez reported there are currently eight part-time limited-term employees who have been hired to help manage the workload. These include two on-call supervisors, several case managers and social workers, and a social worker who will assist in training new staff. The Children’s with Disabilities Team is now fully staffed. • Rosa inquired about the challenges in locating qualified candidates for these positions. Gonzales mentioned that housing was a significant issue for her. Croteau added that his former employer paid for moving expenses and it played a crucial role in the decision to relocate to Wisconsin. FINAL: Approved at 2/27/25 BCDHS Board meeting BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC & Virtual January 23, 2025 K:\Agendas and Minutes\DHS Board\Minutes\2025 DHS Board Minutes\2025-01-23_BCDHS_Board_meeting_minutes -FINAL.docx 2 • Rosa suggested that Bayfield County consider acquiring temporary housing for new employees to help bridge the gap until permanent housing could be found. • Dougherty said she would take these ideas to Human Resources and present them at the next Personnel Committee meeting. Monthly Section Reports Behavioral Health and Community Programs – Tom Croteau • Croteau reviewed staffing and noted one vacancy in the Section. The position has been posted since early December and has been vacant for a few weeks. There have been very few applications. However, Croteau reported that there is potential for an interview next week. • Jamie Allen is managing all behavioral health cases and assisting Family Services with youth justice cases. • Croteau stated that Avel is nearly ready to implement their services in Bayfield County. Avel offers 24/7/365 telehealth services with access to professional behavioral health staff who can assist officers in the field during mental health crises. A discussion took place regarding how the services will be used. Croteau hopes the services will begin February 1, 2024. • Alan Spaude-Filipczak was hired as a Mental Health Professional for Comprehensive Community Services (CCS) in November. Spaude-Filipczak has taken over the clinical role in some cases, which has helped Croteau better manage his workload. • Croteau noted the number of participants in the CCS program remains stable, hovering around fifty. Some individuals have been discharged from the program after meeting their goals and achieving stability, which is encouraging. Participants have the option to return to the program if needed. • Croteau reported some DHS managers toured the renovation of the lower level of the courthouse. Family Services – Jo Beth Gonzalez • Gonzalez is busy orienting and familiarizing herself with the DHS processes and procedures. • DHS is working with Human Resources to fill the vacancies in the Family Services Section. • Gonzalez reported that there have been very few applicants, but there is one interview scheduled for next week. • Gonzalez is thankful there are limited-term employees who are assisting during the Family Services rebuilding process. Support Services – Stephanie Eder • Eder announced a new clerical position in the Support Staff approved in the 2025 budget has just been posted. Additional support staff is necessary to complete tasks with the growing number of participants in many of the DHS programs. This position will primarily provide support to the Children’s Long-term Support (CLTS) and CCS programs and provide technical support to the new electronic health records system, EchoVantage. • Christopher O’Dell joined the Support Staff team in December. O’Dell came to DHS from Zoning. He is a quick learner and a pleasure to work with. • Eder is collaborating with the team on succession planning. The team’s two most experienced staff are likely to retire within the next year. There is significant work to do but it is going well. • DHS is transitioning its financial records from the WISSIS software to the County’s financial software, New World. WISSIS is an outdated system that is no longer supported. DHS has been unable to find BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC & Virtual January 23, 2025 K:\Agendas and Minutes\DHS Board\Minutes\2025 DHS Board Minutes\2025-01-23_BCDHS_Board_meeting_minutes -FINAL.docx 3 a suitable replacement. The transition will be a long-term project, as solutions need to be developed due to the limitations of New World. Bookkeeper Kathy Wolfram-Moran added over 800 new account numbers to New World for 2025 as part of the transition. • Eder is participating in the Wellness Committee. • Support staff have begun to enter the data necessary to close fiscal 2024 and open fiscal 2025. Aging & Disability Services – Carrie Linder • Linder reported that December was a hectic month. Linder is finalizing projects and grants and wrapping up various other tasks before leaving in February. Linder aims to ensure everything is in order for a smooth transition to the new Aging and Disability Manager. • The Vaccination Grant is not complete. However, the rest of the activities and narrative reports will be generated by the Public Health Department and filed by DHS. • The Social Isolation Grant project is almost complete. A budget amendment was requested to use funds to install a hearing loop in the Cable Community Center for individuals with hearing impairment. Linder reported the Repair Café in Cable will be self-sustaining by the Cable community once the grant ends. • Linder attended the monthly Social Connections meeting. The group discussed the need for a county-wide social isolation coalition, the need for additional grants, and needed public outreach campaign efforts. Individual efforts in Iron River and Cable communities were reported on. Monthly Reports Monthly Financial and Training reports were reviewed and retained. Retirement Notice – Carrie Linder, Aging and Disability Services Section Manager Carrie Linder submitted her notice of retirement effective February 12, 2025. A copy of the notice was included in the board packet. This was Linder’s last board meeting. DHS Board members showed their appreciation for Linder’s work in Human Services and on behalf of the elderly over the last twenty-one years. Linder will be missed. Discussion and Possible Action – CCS Committee Appointments The local and regional CCS committees recommended the appointment of Jon Michel as a participant member to the local and regional CCS Coordination Committees. Motion by Milanowski, seconded by Holte, to approve Jon Michels to the local and regional Comprehensive Community Services (CCS) Coordination Committees. Motion carried. Discussion and Possible Action – Committee Appointment to the Children’s Community Options Program (CCOP)/Community Services Team (CST) Committee The CCOP/CST Committee recommended the appointment of Kristin Stark to the committee. The majority of members of the committee must be parents of a child with a disability. Stark meets this requirement. Approval is recommended. Motion by Milanowski, seconded by Dougherty, to approve Kristin Stark to the CCOP/CST Committee. Motion carried. BAYFIELD COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES BOARD MEETING EOC & Virtual January 23, 2025 K:\Agendas and Minutes\DHS Board\Minutes\2025 DHS Board Minutes\2025-01-23_BCDHS_Board_meeting_minutes -FINAL.docx 4 Discussion and Possible Action – Appointment to the Family Services/Behavioral Health and Community Program Advisory Committee. The committee recommended the reappointment of Darlene Neff to the Family Services/Behavioral Health and Community Programs Advisory Committee. Motion by Milanowski, seconded by Hanson, to reappoint Darlene Neff to the Family Services/Behavioral Health and Community Programs Advisory Committee. Motion carried. Children’s Long-term Services (CLTS) Program Update – Changes to County Waiver Agency Responsibilities as of January 1, 2025. • Effective January 1, 2025, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (WDHS) implemented a change that eliminated the need for counties to contract with CLTS service providers. Included in the Board packet are two documents concerning this change. The first document is a legal opinion provided by the Wisconsin Counties Association’s (WCA) contracted legal counsel that addresses questions raised by the County Health and Human Services Departments statewide regarding this new policy. The second was the state's response to inquiries related to a service provider that both Ashland and Bayfield Counties chose not to contract within 2024. • Many counties raised concerns regarding the new process for vetting providers. Counties are worried about the health and safety of children when provider concerns have been raised; the quality of services; and the state’s ability to be responsive when there are complaints. Human Services Department Updates – Elizabeth Skulan, District Attorney Kimberly Lawton • Lawton expressed appreciation for the Committee’s discussion about recruitment earlier in the meeting. • Lawton spoke about holding county departments accountable. • Lawton noted Family Services is rebuilding the Child Protective Services (CPS) and Youth Justice (YJ), team and how significant progress has been made in the last month. • Lawton reported she sent a draft procedure manual to Gonzalez and Skulan for review. • Lawton briefly mentioned an opportunity for assistance from the Department of Justice to map Youth Justice cases. Other (Informational Items) • Email from Shawna White regarding Economic Support Specialist Isabel Ford’s role in recognizing fraud. A positive determination was made from the referral. Future Meetings • February 27, 2025 – County Board Room • March 27, 2025 • April 24, 2025 Crandall adjourned the meeting at 5:20 p.m. Submitted by Sarah Traaholt, Clerk III