Human Services Committee Minutes

Meeting: July 11, 2005, 5:00 p.m., County Board Room, Baraboo, WI

Members Present: Alexander, Stoeckmann, Vertein, Earl, Dippel, Bowers, Endres, Fordham

Members Excused: Vaillancourt

Members Absent: None

Others Present: Orth, Brattset, Horkan, Berlin, Wiegand, Wenzel, Tim Bruer, Energy Services Inc. (ESI); Fred Hebert, Central Wisconsin Community Action Council (CWCAC)

Chair Alexander called the meeting to order and certified compliance with the Open Meeting Law. Note, Chair Alexander noted a change in agenda order due to there being notification that Mr. Bruer would be late. Item A under Department Updates Mr. Hebert will present first as opposed to Mr. Bruer to allow Mr. Bruer time to arrive.

Motion by Dippel, seconded by Bowers to adopt the agenda.
Motion Carried.

Motion by Endres, seconded by Dippel to approve the minutes of the previous meeting.
Motion Carried.

Communications:

Letter from MATC Nursing Program - Orth reviewed a letter from the MATC Nursing Program which reported positive involvement of their students in Sauk County Department of Human Services Community Support Program (CSP). One page of this letter was omitted, therefore a full letter will be attached to the next month's minutes.

Business Items:

1. A. Review and Approval of Monthly Voucher: Horkan distributed the monthly voucher report (see attached). Endres noted there was an increase in salaries and benefits due to three payrolls in June of 2005. There was also some administrative line increase for CSSW due to several payments made. Community Treatment was also on the increase due to two autism treatment plans. Economic Support was down due to less funerals. In addition, there was some miscellaneous refunds returned and credited. Motion by Endres, seconded by Stoeckmann to approve the vouchers in the amount of $1,882,049.56.
   Motion Carried.

Horkan reviewed alternate care statistics (see attached graphs and data). All placements this month were fairly low. CCI and group home averages were low this month. Juvenile Corrections remained constant from last year.

Department Updates:

1. Energy Assistance Program Presentation: Orth reported that he had spoken to Corporation Counsel pertaining to the issue of joint board membership with CWCAC and Sauk County Department of Human Services Board. The advice he received is if there was a vote on the actual contract that the joint members should abstain from an actual vote. Since the discussion this evening is referring to acceptance of Bill's recommendation to maintain the current contract and for information gathering only, this at this time is not a conflict of interest for these individuals per this interpretation.

   Mr. Fred Hebert, CWCAC was introduced and he introduced six staff members from CWCAC. Mr. Hebert had associated handouts (see attached) to review CWCAC's proposal for energy assistance. Mr. Hebert noted that he would like to do the energy assistance contract and some of the reasons for this include: all of the vendors that CWCAC uses are local and bids are put out for things such as furnace replacement and this results in lower costs than the current contract holder, ESI. A number of exploratory questions were asked pertaining to Mr. Hebert's information.

   Mr. Tim Bruer, ESI, presented a history of energy assistance and his agency's role in the delivery of these services (see attached handouts from his presentation). Mr. Bruer noted that ESI has 14 counties and major features of ESI's ability to deliver services include: early identification of at-risk clients, working with Alliant Energy directly, and additional grant dollars through fund raising. Mr. Bruer further reiterated there are private donations from local Sauk County communities and these monies stay in Sauk County. A number of questions were asked of Mr. Bruer by board members pertaining to his presentation. Mr. Bill Wenzel indicated that he has had some contact with various individuals to include: Shawn Murphy, Prairie du Sac Village President; as well as Craig Culver, a donor to ESI's private fund raising efforts. Mr. Wenzel indicated that both individuals he had spoke to spoke highly of ESI's services and also of the importance of the relationships that have been developed via ESI's contract which have resulted in favorable situations for both consumers and communities. Mr. Hebert addressed the board and indicated that he felt it was important for the board to understand that CWCAC was a partner in other more global areas such as homelessness and there have been many questions from the general board as to why doesn't CWCAC, a more local agency, do the energy contract. Earl indicated that he was proud to say that he had been on the Community Action Council Board for the past six years and that previous history with CWCAC on the energy contract should not be a part of current decisions due to changes in administration. Earl noted that Mr. Hebert has done a great job with his staff and that there are very positive things being done for the community by CWCAC such as homelessness initiatives. Orth indicated that both of these agencies provide two good programs, CWCAC, homelessness and W-2; and ESI does an excellent job with the energy assistance program. Orth further reiterated that he is concerned that if the contract is changed, that there are consumers and employers in the balance of the change that could be hurt. Orth continued that it is his opinion that due to the performance on the energy assistance contract being excellent, there is no compelling reasons to make changes at this time and that the Sauk County Department of Human Services management team has looked at this issue and concurred with this recommendation. Bowers indicated that he had some concerns as mentioned in previous meetings that there might be some challenges for some of the individuals he is aware of via the Giving Tree Project. Mr. Bruer agreed to contact this organization in order to be proactive in identifying any problems that might be occurring with those particular individuals. He gave his cell phone number as a contact.

2. ICFMR Downsizing: Orth spoke about the ICFMR downsizing initiative by the State of Wisconsin. He indicated that the state had backed down from their initial position of rate setting as a result of discussions with WCHSA. The State will now fund placements in the community in total. Each case will be reviewed individually. More will be forth coming on this downsizing effort within the next six months to one year, as it occurs.
3. W-2 Program Allocations: Orth indicated that allocations have been received from the State. The consortium has first right of selection at this time. There will need to be a plan done by 9/15/05 and the consortium is taking a look at the allocations as it relates to benefits, services, and administrative areas. Although there are some allocation figures that are slightly higher than last year, overall Sauk County will be looking at a cut of about $103,000.00. The question remains what can Sauk County Department of Human Services do to operate if they were to operate out of the consortium and W-2 network. Potentially, this could cost additional money from participation as well. What are the implications for staff and consumer services if Sauk County were to opt out? Endres noted that if the State withdraws from condoning the consortium, does Sauk County withdraw? This question is unclear and will need to be asked as a component of what the consortium decides to do. Stoeckmann noted that the course of action at this time is waiting to see what the consortium comes up with evaluating the allocation figures. There is a meeting that Bill Orth will attend on July 12, 2005 to discuss the consortium's analysis of the allocations.
4. 2006 Budget Process: Orth indicated that the budget process is continuing on track and at the August meeting, the board will have the initial budget.
5. VARC Building Addition: Orth indicated that there has been a request to Capital Outlay to double the size of the VARC building. This request has been brought into the 2006 budget process and the suggested expansion will be at approximately $1,000,000.00 to double floor space and potentially provide a overhang parking area for vehicles.
6. Corrections/Probation and Parole Clients: Brattset updated the committee on a number of recent cases that have been received by Sauk County Department of Human Services upon completion of Corrections. These cases are particularly problematic in that there are often multiple needs to include homelessness, chronic mental illness issues, and other psycho social factors which present challenges. In addition, there has been very short notification about receiving these clients back to Sauk County. Recent meetings with Randy Friehoffer, Director of Probation and Parole, has proved positive in working collaboratively to increase communications and notification of these clients so resources can be put in place. It was noted, however, by Mr. Brattset that there is a significant challenge in funding many of the services necessary for these clients. There are limited resources and many times clients coming from Corrections do not qualify for some of these resources. Most notable are the homelessness needs and need for medications.
7. Jail Mental Health/AODA Costs: Orth updated the committee that if there is a significant increase in beds due to other counties renting space in the Sauk County jail, that he has proposed a figure of $90.00 per hour to provide services to this additional population. There would be an overall additional expenditure of $24,000.00 per year in additional costs if services are provided, and if the jail pod is opened. This is an estimate based on service delivery within the past several years of the current population. If this were to occur, Orth indicated the desire to have these funds be part of the Sheriff's Department budget. Sauk County Department of Human Services would continue to provide mental health services within the jail setting at these rates.
8. Wagner Foundation: Orth updated the committee on the Wagner Foundation. The $10,000.00 per year has been used at Wal-Mart to provide direct assistance to clients in need. There has been some discussion over the specific limitations of these funds and in contact with the Wagner Foundation, these issues have been resolved. It would appear that there would be a continuation of the Wagner Foundation in future years.

   Motion by Earl, seconded by Dippel to adjourn to Closed Session pursuant to Wisconsin Statutes § 19.85 (1)(c) Considering employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility. Motion Carried

   The next meeting of the Sauk County Human Services Board is scheduled for Monday, August 8, 2005 from 1:00-4:00 p.m., to discuss the 2006 budget.

Respectfully Submitted: Beverly Vertein