Present: David Alderman, Norman Bickford, Sharon Menke, LaVerne Sandberg, Jeff Schinzing, Laurel Stusek, Chris Sybers

Also Present: Dan Brown, Lance Horozewski, Laura Neve-Warndahl, Rob Rudiger, Katie Sundquist, Lois Taylor, Jeanne Young

The meeting was called to order by Dave Alderman, chair, at 1:30 p.m.

There were no appearances from the public.

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 1:30 p.m. Laurel Stusek will be unable to attend.

A motion was made by Laurel Stusek, seconded by Jeff Schinzing; to approve the minutes of the May 11, 2004 meeting; motion carried.

Director's Report:
Personnel Report: Dan Brown reported there were 22 applications for the Economic Support Supervisor position with seven having experience in Economic Support. Interviews are scheduled for June 29, 2004 with Dave Alderman assisting with interviewing. Rhonda Carlton has resigned from the Birth-to-Three Coordinator position and has accepted a position with the Spooner School District. The Birth-to-Three Coordinator position is contracted through CESA 11 and they are in the process of filling the position. Jean Francis, Benefit Specialist, is leaving in July but has not yet submitted a termination letter. Dan announced he plans to retire the end of December.

Financial Report: Jeanne Young presented the monthly financial report and answered questions regarding the budget.

Program Reports:
Aging: Lois Taylor was present and addressed the complaints expressed in a letter sent to all board members from a few meal participants. Lois stated this letter contained many inaccuracies and they were discussed. Another letter received stated the dining program had been evicted from the Siren Community Center, which is not true. Remodeling will begin soon at the Siren Community Center and the village will not maintain the kitchen equipment, therefore, we will no longer use this center for meal preparation. Menus are prepared by the registered nutritionist and do not always please every participant. The new food packaging is working well. Lois recently invited the public to an Aging Advisory meeting to meet with Pam VanKampen, field representative with the Northern Area Agency on Aging, who would address all concerns and not one person from the public showed for the meeting. With budget cuts of $15,000 this year and another $8,300 next year, Lois requested suggestions from the Aging Advisory committee as to how current services can be maintained but with less dollars. Lois hasn't received word from the Siren Senior Citizens Board regarding serving meals at their new center, however, she has arranged with Experienced Works for a person to help with meal reservations, serving meals and clean up at the Siren Center. Dave Alderman will be attending the Aging Conference.

Benefit Specialist: Jean Frances has assisted a client in filing homestead tax credit and he will now receive close to $900 back payments for the past four years. Jean will be greatly missed when she leaves Burnett County.

Community Programs: Rob Rudiger explained the children's waiver program related to mental health issues and the challenge to find match dollars in the budget. With developmentally disabled children, it is expected that they would be managed in their home and school system but is very stressful to the families. Placing a child in a facility costs approximately $346 per day. Rob reviewed the Mental Health/AODA Breakout for 2003; 27% of her programs are supported by county dollars.

Long Term Support: Laura Warndahl-Neve was present and provided information on Long Term Care Program Options for Elderly and Disabled Adults, BDDS Waiver Target Groups and Burnett County Profile. Laura asked for two committee members from the Health & Human Services Committee to join the Long Term Support Committee that meets quarterly on the 3rd Tuesday, l:00 - 2:00 p.m. She will return to the July meeting to ask for two volunteers. The new Children's Waiver Program was explained. Two fully funded slots were filled with two children with autism but we are unable to fill more positions due to lack of match dollars. The Community Integrated Programs and Children's Long Term Support groups were explained. Other programs included in this unit are adult protection services, investigations for elderly and vulnerable adults, guardianships, protective placements in nursing homes and other group homes, SSI-E determinations, and determining if people are eligible for supplemental money from the state.

Children & Families Unit: Lance Horozewski, Social Worker, presented the GPS Electronic Monitoring System. This program tracks juveniles while wearing an ankle bracelet. The cost of this monitoring system is $8 per day. Last year there were between 30-35 kids, 12-16 years of age, on this system and this year so far there have been 6 to 7. Lance also described the alcohol monitoring system with a cost of $12.00 per day. Currently the unit is looking into the Palm Pilot System, which utilizes a cell phone and is similar in price.

Home Care: Katie Sundquist was present and stated Rod Paulson, Auditor, completed a cost report for home care with a recommendation we raise the nursing rates from $140 to $150 as it is costing the unit $170 to make a visit. Clients not covered by insurance or Medicare are billed on a sliding fee scale. A motion was made by Laurel Stusek, seconded by Sharon Menke, to raise the R.N home care nursing visit rate to $150 effective August 1, 2004; motion carried.

Public Health: Sharon Menke and Carol Larson will attend the Board of Health meeting tomorrow. Laurel Stusek reported the Strategic National Stockpile test held June 8th went well and Carol Larson was a great facilitator. An evaluation of this meeting will be completed on Thursday. Two retailers, out of approximately 60, showed intent to sell at the recent WI WINS compliance checks.

Economic Support/W-2: The caseload is down some this month. Dan commended the unit for doing a good job of holding the unit together in the absence of a supervisor. Supervisor interviews are scheduled the end of the month.

Dan stated Sharon Blanding, support staff person handling the transportation program, has received complaints from the volunteer drivers regarding the price of gasoline and the reimbursement prices. M.A. reimbursement, set by the state, is $.33 per mile; reimbursement to other volunteers is $.375. The committee is sensitive to the driver's needs and will discuss this in the future if gas prices don't decrease by the end of summer. Norman Bickford suggested writing a letter requesting M.A. increase their reimbursement rate to $.375 cents per mile.

LaVerne Sandberg reported on the Foster Parent Banquet he attended and stated Judge Gableman expressed interest in attending a Health & Human Services committee meeting.

A motion was made by Norman Bickford, seconded by LaVerne Sandberg, to approve the vouchers in the amount of $382,720.89; motion carried.

With no further business to come before the committee, the meeting was adjourned.