Human Services Board

Human Services Board Minutes January 10, 2022 (111 KB)

MINUTES
SAUK COUNTY BOARD OF HUMAN SERVICES

Meeting:       January 10, 2022, 4 p.m., County Board Room 326A, West Square Building, Baraboo, WI

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

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

Others Present:  Jessica Mijal, Stephanie Box, Nicole Rachuj

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

Motion by Valerie McAuliffe, seconded by Cliff Thompson, to approve the minutes for the previous Human Services Board meeting held on December 13, 2021.  Motion carried.

Public Comment:  

        None

Communications/Director’s Report:

1. Board Materials: Distributed electronically.  Jessica Mijal updated the monitoring of COVID in the office. 

Business Items:

1. Review and Approve Monthly Vouchers:  Distributed electronically.  Stephanie Box reviewed the Monthly Voucher Report.  Motion by James Bowers, seconded by Delmar Scanlon, to approve monthly vouchers in the amount of $ 2,184,861.99.  Motion carried.
2. Accounts Receivable Report:  Distributed electronically.  Stephanie Box reviewed the Accounts Receivable Report for November.  Stephanie discussed the change for collection requests.  The State Department of Revenue will submit our TRIP accounts at no charge.  The Department of Revenue does not process accounts under $50, out-of-state, or missing certain information; we will continue to submit those to Credit Management.  Year to date we have received $53,600.45 from TRIP and $7,277.16 from the collection agency.  No hardships were authorized.
3. Discussion and Action to Approve Collection Requests:  Stephanie Box discussed the collection requests.  Motion by Valerie McAuliffe, seconded by Delmar Scanlon, to approve sending 19 accounts to State Department of Revenue for $9,085.65 and 7 accounts to Credit Management Control for $2,019.42.  Motion carried.
4. Monthly Reports:  Distributed electronically.  Stephanie Box discussed the November Volatile Line report.  Still projecting to be over budget in our volatile line for institutions, foster care, and juvenile corrections.
5. Discussion and Action to Approve 2022 Agency Rates:  Stephanie discussed.  Motion by Valerie McAuliffe, seconded by Delmar Scanlon, to approve the 2022 Agency Rates.  Motion carried.
6. Discussion and Action to Approve Mental Health Block Grant Supplemental Award:  Stephanie Box stated we applied for supplemental funds.  Motion by Michelle Bushweiler, seconded by Valerie McAuliffe, to approve Mental Health Block Grant Supplemental Award for $27,916.00.  Motion carried.
7. Discussion and Action to Approve 2022 State County Child Welfare Contract:  Stephanie Box discussed. Motion by Delmar Scanlon, seconded by Valerie McAuliffe, to approve the 2022 State County Child Welfare Contract for $2,090,221.00.  Motion carried.

Department Updates:

1. Presentation:  Child Protective Services (CPS), Jenna Greenwood and Lori Follendorf, CPS supervisors; Melanie Sommerfield, CPS Lead Social Worker:  Jenna Greenwood excused Lori Follendorf’s absence due to illness.  Jenna and Melanie presented and discussed the process from beginning of an initial report of possible abuse or neglect to an array of end results. Discussion of safety precautions made and how CPS staff are being monitored by their peers. This included communication with other staff throughout the agency when a situation may need to be monitored when someone arrives to the office.  The interview room continues to wait for the cameras which have a delay in delivery, presumably the result of COVID.  Jenna reviewed the number of cases in 2021 versus previous years.  The number of calls and on-going cases has continued to increase at a high rate.

Jenna shared with the board a letter of acknowledgement received from the Department of Children and Families Division of Safety and Performance commending the Sauk County Department of Human Services Child Protective Services unit for being one of the highest performing counties statewide.  For every out-of-home placement, every child must have face-to-face contact 1-2 times a month, every parent 1-2 times a month, and every caregiver 1-2 times a month.  The letter identifies the county demonstrated an exceptional performance of 99.44%.  Jenna explained the 99.44% is equivalent to missing one contact; a person with our agency left before the visitation was documented.  The DHS benchmark is 95%, which is very high, and many counties do not make that mark.

Currently there are over 150 child protection cases open to date.   

Next Meeting:  

The next meeting of the Sauk County Human Services Board will be February 14, 2022, at 4 p.m. in County Board Room 326A.

Motion by Michelle Bushweiler, seconded by Cliff Thompson, to adjourn at 4:59 p.m.  Motion carried.