WCDHHS Board Meeting Minutes
October 2, 2013
Waupaca County Courthouse
Room 1068
Waupaca, WI
Members Present: Jan Lehrer, Jerry Murphy, Carl Kietzmann, Mary Kay Poehlman, Don Morgan, Don Aasen, Dr. Steven Goedderz
Members Excused: Elizabeth Tautges, Dave Neumann
Staff Present: Lana Draeger, Chuck Price, Gene Ruppert, Gail Yest, Chris Machamer, Jennifer Brickey, Christie Gonwa
Others Present: Dave Milbrandt and Cindy Kleinschmidt
The regular meeting of the Health and Human Services Board was called to order at 6:00 pm by Chair Jerry Murphy
Public Comment: Dave Milbrandt approached the Board about a child placed in their home for foster care. They have worked with staff on visitation. These visitations have been at various areas throughout the community. They are asking if visitations could be held at the Courthouse. They state a few days before a visit, the child is upset. The Judge states the Department sets the visitation location. They are guardians of the child. Director Price stated he will have a conversation with Dana and staff regarding the procedure currently going on internally and with the Courts. Chair Murphy offered for them to contact Director Price to return to the Board if needed.
Motion by Lehrer, second by Aasen, to accept revised agenda. Motion carried.
Motion by Poehlman, second by Lehrer, to approve minutes from September 4 and September 25, 2013. Motion carried.
A. Group Homes
1. Gene Ruppert shared information on the Beacon House Sprinkler System. Chuck invited management from Community Care to the meeting tonight. Gene shared information about the two homes. Beacon House is required to have a sprinkler system by April 1, 2014, if we plan to continue to lease to Clarity Care. If we sell the home, would we get our return for the cost of installing the sprinkler system, or could we sell the home with a sprinkler system in it? Don Morgan questioned if we could amortize the cost of the sprinkler over 5 years, then wouldn’t show a loss for the home. Motion by Poehlman, second by Kietzmann, to not invest in the sprinkler system at Beacon House. Motion carried.
2. There have been two major repairs needed on the two homes recently. There is an average of 6 residents in each home, and each home is licensed for 8 residents. They are not clients of our Department. They are family care clients of Community Care, Inc., and Clarity Care provides the staffing in the homes. Jennifer reviewed the 2013 budget, along with 2014 proposed budget for the homes. Prior to family care, County employees staffed the homes and they did some of the maintenance. We own the homes and are landlords for Clarity Care. Jan and Carl suggested selling both homes. Discussion held on selling Beacon House, but keeping McKinley House. By action of the Board to not invest in the sprinkler system at Beacon House, we will not meet the requirements to operate a group home. Motion by Jan to sell Beacon House and retain McKinley House, second by Poehlman. Motion carried with Aasen and Kietzmann voting No.
B. Presentation of the 2014 Budget
New and expanded positions were taken to the HR Committee yesterday. The Sanitarian position was not acted upon due to the decision to contract with Oshkosh. County Sanitarian Jed would like to start a water testing lab in the County. There isn’t one now. Two position requests to expand from part-time to full-time were approved to move onto Finance next week. Of the two positions requested to expand from 29 to 30 hours, only one was presented to HR, and that position was rejected, but information was forwarded to Finance. Discussion held on proposing the 29-hour position that was denied be increased to full-time. Jan asked what we were doing about the mental health contracts budget. We have an employee moving into a Crisis Coordinator position soon, and are partnering with other counties on services. Motion by Lehrer, second by Morgan, to accept the 2014 budget. Motion carried.
C. Finance
1. Director Price reviewed the Income Statement Overview. Chuck talked with Jennifer to look at a different presentation to the Board at the November meeting.
2. Payment Register and Bills were reviewed. Motion by Lehrer, second by Goedderz, to approve bills. Motion carried.
D. Personnel
1. Wendy Lederhaus, Account Clerk, retired Monday. We are actively recruiting for the position. Motion by Lehrer, second by Poehlman, to accept her retirement. Motion carried.
2. Employee Update was reviewed. Interviews were held Monday for Rehabilitation Manager. Yesterday interviews were held for CLTS Social Worker, and we found a possible employee for this position, as well as for the Birth-3 vacancy. Interviews will be next week for manager vacancy positions. Linda Behm will be retiring the end of December, so we will be recruiting for that position.
E. Other
1. Christie Gonwa reviewed Nutrition Program Meal Bid proposals. Steve & Mary’s gave proposals for Marion, Clintonville, and New London. Iola Living Oaks gave proposals for Iola and Manawa, along with the Site Manager position. Lakeview Manor and Bethany gave proposals for Weyauwega and Waupaca. St. Joseph’s gave a proposal on New London. We have more people on home-delivered meals than at congregate sites. Marion and Manawa are the lower attended sites, but we are not looking to close any sites. A goodwill offering is at each site. The people receiving home-delivered meals contribute more to the cost of meals than people going at the sites. Average donation is about $3.80 for home-delivered meals and around $3.00 for congregate sites. Motion by Poehlman, second by Lehrer, to accept proposals by Steve & Mary’s, Iola Living Oaks, and Bethany. Motion carried.
A. Advisory Committee Reports
1. Committee on Aging Committee Meeting Minutes of July 30, 2013, were reviewed.
B. Director’s Report
1. General Update and Discussion – Chuck has been spending much time with budgets and interviewing. We have started Organizational Effectiveness. Our next meeting will be the end of October. We are continuing with Trauma Informed Care and what the next steps are for our agency.
2. Alternate Care – we are looking at adjusting placements and taking children into custody procedures. We are trying to develop more structure for staff after hours. It is hoped this will reduce placements.
3. Mental Health – we are monitoring Winnebago and other placements – when we get a manager, this will help to monitor placements and give better structure for staff.
C. Announcements and Correspondence
1. Eastern Region WCHSA Meeting is October 18. Contact Lana if you wish to attend, and she will register you. Jan and Carl plan to attend.
Next meeting is November 6, 2013.
Motion by Aasen, second by Kietzmann, to adjourn at 7:40 pm. Motion carried.
Submitted by,
Lana Draeger
Office Manager
Approved by,
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