WCDHHS Board Meeting Minutes

April 8, 2013

Waupaca County Courthouse

811 Harding Street

Waupaca, WI

Members Present:  Dave Neumann, Elizabeth Tautges, Carl Kietzmann, Gerald Murphy, Don Morgan, Jan Lehrer, Mary Kay Poehlman, Don Aasen, Dr. Steve Goedderz

Members Excused:  None

Members Absent:  None

Staff Present:  Chuck Price, Lana Draeger, Alan Stauffer, Nicole Olig, Caitlin Cummings, Jasmine Tuchalski

The regular meeting of the Health and Human Services Board was called to order at 6:00 pm by Chair Jerry Murphy.

Public Comment:  None

Motion by Aasen, second by Lehrer, to accept agenda.  Motion carried.

Motion by Lehrer, second by Neumann, to approve minutes from March 6, 2013.  Motion carried.

Presentation:  April is Child Abuse Prevention Month – Initial Assessment Staff of Nicole Olig (5 years), Jasmine Tuchalski (2 years), and Caitlin Cummings (7 weeks) were present to talk about their jobs.  The worker travels to wherever the child is.  They meet with all parents involved, including biological and step-parents.  Whenever there is a report that’s screened in, they have a set timeline to respond, depending on the seriousness of the abuse.  They need to talk with the child and the accused individual.  They make efforts to find all household members, with help from law enforcement.  If they feel there is any safety issue, they do ask law enforcement to go along.  They often go into homes with law enforcement.  There is a short timeline to complete a report after the assessment.  They have to gather information about everyone that resides in the house and do a home safety assessment.  Depending on the outcome of the assessment, they determine whether any other referrals are needed, such as to other Department programs.  All initial assessments are sent to DA’s office for them to determine whether any actions are needed. Main goal is to assess the safety of the child.  Even if Court intervention is not needed, they still do outreach to the family.  Last year, about 30% of initial referrals were substantiated.  All of those were referred to DA’s office for follow-up, and about half of those have court intervention.  Caitlin gave a review of being a new worker.  She has done ride-alongs with staff and has been able to do on-line trainings.  She felt overwhelmed with the amount to learn, but is developing an organization a plan for herself with  help from co-workers.

Action Items

A.  Personnel

1. Motion by Lehrer, second by Tautges, to approve resignation of Sherry Weise and retirement of Mary Jean Smith.  Motion carried.  Interviews are set up for the ADRC clerical position vacated by Dana Nelson and the Economic Support position of Sherry Weise.

2. Employee Update was reviewed.  Michelle Anderson started today as a Social Worker in the Children’s Long Term Care area.  She comes to us from Waushara County.  Interviews for the new supervisor in the children’s programs are complete.  They are currently checking references on one candidate.

B. Finance

1. Chuck gave the Income Statement Overview.  This one is through the month of February, so there aren’t any concerns at this time with the budget.

2. Payment Register was shared for review.  Motion by Neumann, second by Goedderz, to accept bills as presented.  Motion carried.  There were two questions last month on bills.  One was to Sandy Testin for the WIC Breastfeeding Program and one was the Family Care contribution.

C. Other

1. Chuck reviewed a request to apply for a Children’s Trust Fund Grant.  This is an opportunity for us to apply for funding.  If awarded, we want to put the money into a Community Response Program, aimed at reducing/ preventing child maltreatment in Waupaca County.  The resolution would show that the County is committed to this program.  The grant is due May 1.  Motion by Morgan, second by Poehlman, for approval to apply for the grant.  Dr. Goedderz questioned internships.  We currently work with UW-Green Bay and UW-Oshkosh for internships, and we have hired new workers from those internships.  Motion carried.

Reports to the Board

A. Director’s Report

1. General Update and Discussion – actively recruiting for the ADRC clerical position.  The State is looking to support an additional part-time position within the ADRC due to our high number of nursing home beds, to assist with trying to relocate people into the community.  Call center numbers in Economic Support are high.  The staff is doing a nice job of additional shifts in the call center to help reduce wait time for callers.  County Health rankings are out.  Waupaca County has improved since the last report.  WCI and Community Care staff met to look at internship programs for clients.  The meeting went well, and Community Care was impressed with what they saw.  WCI staff is also meeting with Fox Valley Tech.  We are currently in reconciliation in child long term care programs with the State.  April 23, 8:30-noon, is an all agency staff meeting about adverse childhood experiences, trauma informed care, etc.  We will be shutting down production at WCI that day.  Elizabeth Hudson from the state will be here to help with the training. The afternoon will be training for staff for a train-the-trainer program.  In addition to being Child Abuse Prevention month, Friday there will be a ring out sexual assault presentation at noon at the Courthouse. 

2. Alternate Care report was reviewed.  There are children in high-cost residential placements.  Chuck is hoping to work with staff to return them to the community.

3. Mental Health report doesn’t show a lot of activity, which is good.  Chuck will follow up more with that.

B. Announcements and Correspondence

1. WCHSA Eastern Region Meeting is April 19 in Allouez.  Contact Lana if interested in attending.  Jan plans to attend.

Motion by Aasen, second by Neumann, to adjourn at 7:09 pm.  Motion carried.

Submitted by,

Lana Draeger

Office Manager

Approved by,

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