Human Services Board - 6/14/2021

Sauk County Human Services Board Minutes June 14, 2021 (214 KB)

SAUK COUNTY BOARD OF HUMAN SERVICES

Meeting:       June 14, 2021, 4 p.m., County Board Room 326A, West Square Building, Baraboo, WI

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this meeting was conducted in person, virtually, or by phone.

Chair, Patricia Rego called the meeting to order and certified compliance with the Open Meeting Law at 4 p.m.

Roll Call.   PRESENT:  Patricia Rego, James Bowers, Michelle Bushweiler, Joel Chrisler, Valerie McAuliffe,  Delmar Scanlon, Eric Scheunemann, Cliff Thompson; Via Zoom:  Kristin White Eagle; ABSENT:  None.

Others Present:  Dan Brattset, Stephanie Box, Lori Dee, Jeff Weiler

Motion by Valerie McAuliffe, seconded by James Bowers, to adopt agenda.  Motion carried.

Michelle Bushweiler arrived at 4:02 p.m.

Motion by Valerie McAuliffe, seconded by Cliff Thompson, to approve the minutes for the previous Human Services Board meeting held on May 10, 2021.  Motion carried.

Public Comment:

None

Communications/Director’s Report:

1. Board Materials:  Distributed electronically.  Dan Brattset indicated Mindy Mattson was unable to attend today’s meeting so Jeff Weiler will be talking the Youth Justice projects.  Dan reported the full County Board agenda includes a discussion on local homelessness efforts.  The next budget will include a crisis position to work with people to match up resources and also work with Veterans, some of whom may be homeless.

Eric Scheunemann arrived at 4:05 p.m.

Business Items:

1. Discussion and Action to Approve Monthly Vouchers:  Distributed electronically.  Stephanie Box reviewed the Monthly Voucher Report.  Motion by Michelle Bushweiler, seconded by Valerie McAuliffe, to approve monthly vouchers for $1,970,779.32.  Motion carried.  

2. Accounts Receivable Report:  Distributed electronically.  Stephanie Box reviewed the Accounts Receivable Report for April 2021.  

3. Discussion and Action to Approve Collection Requests:  Motion by Kristin White Eagle, seconded by Valerie McAuliffe, to approve collection requests of sending 28 accounts for $15,778.97 to Credit Management Control.  Motion carried.

4. Monthly Reports:  Distributed electronically.  Stephanie Box discussed the April 2021 Volatile line report.

Department Updates:

1. Presentation:  Jeff Weiler, Youth Justice Social Worker – Unit Updates:  Jeff introduced himself as a lead worker for the Youth Justice unit and gave his background.  Jeff discussed programs the Youth Justice system utilizes in working with youth.

STAR (Start Today Act Responsibly) is a diversion program for 10 to 14 year-olds who have minor offenses to keep kids out of the court system.  Joint effort between Human Services and the Boys and Girls Club.  First referrals came in fall of 2019; went very well until COVID hit and came to a standstill, but now have resumed.  Referrals come in to Mindy Mattson, YJ Supervisor, screens, and if appropriate go directly to the Boys and Girls Club who have trained staff.  These tools help youth build skills so they don’t repeat the same behavior.  The exercises are a hands-on skill building practice.  Rewards for completing the program include one-year membership to the Boys and Girls Club in Baraboo where youth can continue to grow and learn.  Discussion of expansion is next; schools are interested in making referrals to this program instead of waiting for kids getting referred to juvenile court.  Have talked about expanding to the Reedsburg Boys and Girls Club.  There are five YJ staff trained and certified to use these tools.  The tools in the program are easy for kids to understand for ages 10 to14; older kids don’t fit or buy into it as well.  A number of law enforcement referrals were for juvenile court intake on really young kids for disruptive behaviors, that kids do, but are not necessarily delinquent or criminal behaviors.  We needed to do something different as their needs were not being met. 

YASI (Youth Assessment Screening Instrument) was introduced in Wisconsin in the last three to five years; it’s being implemented statewide by the Department of Children and Families (DCF).  This transfers from one county to the next as families move about the State.  YASI is a risk assessment recidivism scoring tool which gives a score on the likelihood the young person will commit another crime.  The goal is to keep kids out of the juvenile justice system.  Those kids who score moderate and high are the ones we want to work with.  The YASI score will tell us what areas to target.  It covers all aspects of their life including these three which are the most important:  aggression, attitude, skills.  These are the most likely to make changes on.  Primary goal is to reduce recidivism, get kids to change behavior.  This gives us a better approach of how to deal with them.  The YASI identifies protective factors or strengths so if there is a particular strength, can build upon that while working on their problems.  Involvement is between 12 and 14 months.

James Bowers stepped out at 4:45 p.m.

Jeff Weiler discussed a new pilot program for wraparound services, similar to Comprehensive Community Services (CCS), which is geared for young people and adults that have mental health problems working with a team to help manage their challenges.  Youth Justice is court ordered; CCS is voluntary.  Decided to take the funding used for Family Partnership Initiative (FPI), which is starting to die out, and build our own program internally with our own staff and contract with service providers in the community that can provide services we think are going to be most beneficial for Youth Justice programming. 

James Bowers returned at 4:48 p.m.

This will be tied into the YASI assessment.  Identify what to work on and what level of risk kids we should be applying this type of program to. 

YASI will indicate if there are mental health needs.  It’s not just kids’ behavior but also the parents have challenges.  Keep kids in the community safely; sometimes there is no other option and need to be placed out of home.  Youth Justice will be working with the first family in July, utilizing Therapy Without Walls (TWW) staff who are well trained.  Dan Brattset indicated we want a full continuum so we can have the best fit for the child and family.  Jeff indicated this is a 12 to 18 month program with the most work in the first 6 to 9 months, most intensive and making progress.  Jeff indicated some families are resistant.  Dan Brattset stated with children 16 or 17, they begin looking at independent living skills as a segue into adulthood. 

2. Act 184 Process:  Dan Brattset stated Act 184 is the re-placement into the community of sexual offenders after being released from Sand Ridge, enacted by the State legislature that requires certain components of county governments to include human services departments as well as Sheriff’s Departments to work as a liaison in getting that person back in the community.  This has not gone well in just about every county in the State, a role not familiar to us.  It involves us being the middle broker to find real estate for the State who gets a vendor to purchase the real estate, and then place the sexual offender in those locations.  A committee meets to discuss properties that meet certain characteristics and then it’s up to the State if they want to purchase or rent it out.  This process is not going away unless Statute changes are made on how to do it.  There are different placement requirements for different offenders and the ones we are charged with are the most monitored and have the most requirements.  Not every offender has the same requirements.  GIS (Graphic Information System) produces a survey map with how many feet they are from all these different restrictions and provides a list of properties that meet the criteria.  The area has to be checked for informal day cares as not all are licensed and the Sheriff’s Department goes door-to-door with the adjacent properties.

Joel Chrisler excused himself at 5:10 p.m. and left the meeting.

Dan indicated some offenders are listed as lifetime monitoring and high degree of intensity.  Less serious offenders can get off monitoring.  Discussion about a private agency in Florida that has created a fenced trailer park community with a nice living area, provides services, and offer supervised trips but cannot leave the premises without supervision.

3. Service Status:  COVID-19:  Dan Brattset indicated the department is more active, people are more confident with coming into the clinic.  A blend of in-person and video sessions will continue.  We learned things from this pandemic, using teleconference as a tool and be able to bill for it.  The State hasn’t decided exactly what billing will look like but we will get reimbursed for a certain percentage.

Next Meeting: 

The next meeting of the Sauk County Human Services Board will be July 12, 2021, at 4 p.m. in the County Board Room 326A.  When conference room is available, these meetings will return to Room 213.

Motion by Valerie McAuliffe, seconded by Michelle Bushweiler, to adjourn at 5:25 p.m.Motion carried.