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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09 SOCIAL SERVICES BOARD MINUTES 09-01-2021SOCIAL SERVICES BOARD MINUTES September 1st, 2021 The Grant County Department of Social Services Board meeting was held, with some board members appearing via zoom (z). The meeting was called to order by Chairperson John Beinborn at 9:00 AM. Roll Call was taken with Dale Hood, Don Splinter, Lester Jantzen, Robert Scallon, Greg Fry, Dwight Nelson (z) present. Also present, Morgan Doty, Social Worker (z), Amber McKelvey (z), Social Worker, Garry Pluemer, Maintenance Supervisor (z), Fred Naatz, Director, Bob Keeney County Board Chairman, Garry Pluemer, Maintenance Supervisor (z), Clark Thelemann, Social Work Supervisor (z), LeaAnne Smith, Office & Financial Coordinator (z), Shane Drinkwater, Director of IT. The meeting was found to be in compliance with the open meeting laws. Greg Fry made a motion to approve the agenda. Don Splinter seconded, the motion carried. Minutes of August 4th, 2021 meeting: Dwight Nelson made a motion to approve the August 4th, minutes. Dale Hood seconded the motion, the motion carried. COMMUNITY SERVICES BUILDING MAINTENACE UPDATE: Fred stated we are still waiting on the lobby tiles to be resealed. All the thermostats will be set at 72 degrees due to one office controlling the thermostat of the office next to it. Dan will be shampooing the hallway carpets. FINANCIAL REPORTS: Summary of Vouchers: The board reviewed the vouchers Accounts Payable Reports, printed 08.25.2021. Don Splinter made a motion to approve the summary of vouchers. Bob Scallon seconded, the motion carried. Administrative Report 2021: Fred stated the report is through July about 58%. The most expensive placements are the Residential Care Centers. There are three kids placed at Residential Care Centers. The plan for one of the kids is placed at Lad Lake and to go home by the end of September. The cost for this is $13,000 to $14,000 a month. The other two kids that are placed, one will age out at the end of the year, which will help next year’s budget, and the third is related to the adult situation where they are trying to determine whether they are going to proceed through adult court or juvenile court; the jail cannot hold Juveniles, so the department ends up having the placement and cost. The child placing admin we spent a big portion of the $80,000 and this is to administer the foster homes. The TSSF funds are Targeted Safety Funds unlimited and limited funds and a county match program, which we wrote a grant for and are used to provide services to keep families together. The grant is for $51,000 for the year. The county match program is where we send over the hours to Finance for the Service Support Specialists working with the families and use their current time as a local match which does not cost the Department anything. Greg Fry made a motion to approve the Administrative Report. Dwight Nelson seconded, the motion carried. Training Costs: Fred explained most of the trainings are for the United Way training, which is free. Dale Hood made a motion to approve the Training Costs. Don Splinter seconded, the motion carried. CORRESPONDENCE: Fred stated we have a new Regional Director for the Department of Children and Families. The supervisors and LeaAnne will have a meet and greet in October via zoom. ADMINISTRATION – GENERAL: Foster Care Program update/grant survey - Fred explained as part of the Foster Parent Grant DSS received they were asked to do a satisfaction survey. Clark stated a survey was conducted of our Foster Parents. Amber stated as part of the grant we have to complete an entry and exit survey of how the Foster Parents responded to how we utilized the Foster Parent Grant monies. Amber and Morgan did a 7 question survey. Amber went over and explained each question and what the average score was on each question. Amber explained how many foster parents responded to the survey. John asked if they found any answers that surprised them. Amber stated that they thought the question regarding respite opportunities would have been a little higher percentage as Amber and Morgan push their Foster Parents to utilize respite. In talking Clark, Amber and Morgan thought they should have worded this question better as their respite providers answering the questions don’t get respite. Amber and Morgan overall were pleased with the responses. John asked if there was anything from the past they could compare these questions with. Amber stated in the last grant period they had similar questions, but due to COVID this year they tweaked them a little bit. Clark stated he was surprised as to how well we are doing and how well the foster parents rated the program and appreciate the efforts Amber and Morgan make. Fred asked if they knew how many have actual placements or how many do respite. Amber stated in licensed foster home there are 10 kids and unlicensed foster homes, which are typically relatives going through the licensing process or choose not to be licensed, there are 18. Our treatment foster homes and residential care centers, which are for higher need kids there are 7. Morgan stated the process takes up to 4-6 months to become a foster parent. Greg asked what respite was. Morgan explained that respite is a break for the foster parents who have kids in constant care. Clark explained when kids age out and leave our care the state provides ongoing services called independent living. The state and agency help kids transition to give them the best chance they can to be successful in adulthood. Amber shared the different activities they have done with the Foster Parent Grant DSS 2022 Draft Budget – Fred talked to Amanda and on the first page the first line of the general property tax levy there are two ways this can be done. We could put the tax levy request in there, but we did not do that as it is at the end of the report. It is about $300,000 more then what we requested for this year. The out of home care costs was increased by $100,000. The contracted services did increase by $200,000, but decreased the Residential Care Centers by $100,000. The plan is under contracted services we will be able to fund the Orion Services, which provide Intensive in Home Therapy and Safety Services. $5,000 extra was included for 20 smart phones for the social work staff as the workers are currently using flip phones. The workers are using their phone more to communicate with clients via text. Fred will discuss with Shane the confidentiality part of it and HIPPA compliant. Other increases come from the salary and insurance. Fred stated the workman’s comp has gone up. Joyce stated there have been some large claims and it takes a few years for those to settle down the counties premiums. The total 2022 budget is $4,432,735 for total expenditures; $1,566,560 is for tax levy. Compared to the previous year it is a $360,000 increase. Bob K asked if we are locked into the Income Consortium costs and if we have enough staff. Fred stated the department has always been at least short one staff in the Economic Support Unit. The advantage doing it in the consortium is they have been able to keep us in this position. Bob K asked if we should expect the revenue to be higher for this. Fred stated the only numbers we have right now are for childcare. The revenues numbers are based on last year and there is a potential they might increase. The DCF does a cost to continue model, if something costs $5,000,000 they can potentially ask for more money on the cost for continue bases, but cannot start new programs. There is a chance it may go up a little bit. Fred stated our revenue’s is a guess as we do not get any hard numbers from the state as to what they will be. Bob K asked when Fred will get the numbers from the state. Fred stated usually by October. Fred and Amanda went through the budget line by line and did decrease the cell phones some. Some cases if we did not use that much funding in the past years we decreased it and in some cases we increased it. Fred will send this on to the County Board to approve and then they will send it on to the Executive Committee. Greg Fry made a motion to approve the 2022 Budget Draft Budget. Bob Scallon seconded, the motion carried. COVID Response /DSS Update: Fred explained the Department is implementing what the Grant County Health Department and CDC guidelines recommends, workers were asked to wear face masks again while in the office. We are also limiting only one worker to an office again. Some of the other offices are being utilized so workers can spread out. One employee did test positive for COVID who was in the office. The Health Department did their contact tracing; four staff had to end up working from home and not see families for first 5 days, be tested for COVID if vaccinated. If not vaccinated they were out of the office for 10 days. This does make a big impact on the Department when they cannot go out and do the face to face contacts. Director’s Report – Fred gave an update on the database ECHO that the Department is looking into getting. Once the database is up and running will do a demonstration for the DSS Board. Fred has a meeting set up with Shane to go over the cell phones. Greg asked if DSS picks up the monthly charges. Fred stated yes it is an ongoing monthly cost. It was asked how the cell phone will be kept from private use and county use. The county will be required for software to be installed on the cell phones. Fred does not feel this will be an issue. Fred stated we are waiting on Jeff Lockhart of Unified who is applying for the Substance Abuse Grant again, which is funding the Orion services for us. This grant will be over $100,000. CITIZEN COMMENT- None ADJOURMENT- At 10:14 AM, Dwight made a motion to adjourn until October 6th, 2021, which was seconded by Lester. The motion carried, the meeting was adjourned .