Present: Dave Alderman, Norm Bickford, Bert Lund, Sharon Menke, LaVerne Sandberg, Jeff
Schinzing, Laurel Stusek, Chris Sybers, and Blaise Vitale
Also Present: Dan Brown, Carol Larson, Rob Rudiger, Lois Taylor, and Jeanne Young

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

There were no appearances by the public.

A motion was made by Laurel Stusek, seconded by LaVerne Sandberg, to approve the November 9, 2004 meeting minutes; motion carried.

The next meeting is scheduled for January 11, 2004 at 1:30 p.m. Jeff Schinzing will chair the January, February and March meetings in the absence of Dave Alderman.

Director's Report:
Personnel Report: Dan reported Candy Fitzgerald would be coming into the meeting today to discuss scheduling interviews for the director's position. Dan's resignation will be effective January 3, 2005 and Dan recommended Rob Rudiger be appointed interim director. A motion was made by LaVerne Sandberg, seconded by Jeff Schinzing, to appoint Rob Rudiger interim director until a director is in place; motion carried.

Financial Report: Jeanne reported the Long Term Support unit has received a contract addendum for Children's Waiver Program of $73,551 (no county match needed) and a contract addendum for CIP 1A of $226,061. A copy machine was purchased for the Home Care unit this year, which was in the 2005 budget, but replacement was needed this year.

Program Reports:
Aging Report: Lois Taylor reported Deb Holter from Homestead Café and Bakery is willing to provide meals two days per week on a trial basis, increasing to three days per week in the Spring. She wants $5.00 per meal plus keep the donations which could total up to $8.00 per meal. Lois has checked with the state and Deb would be able to retain the donations and she would be responsible for completing two reports per month. Lois anticipates serving 10-12 meals in Danbury. A motion was made by Laurel Stusek, seconded by Norman Bickford, to offer Deb Holter $4.00 per meal, plus the donations received, with monitoring being done; motion carried.

Lois was approached by the A&H dining site to reduce serving days to 4 days per week as that would help save on utilities and heating costs. Lois suggested they will serve meals four days per week for three months and then could resume to five days per week in the spring and the committee agreed.

Candy Fitzgerald, Personnel Director, and the Health & Human Services committee will interview three candidates on January 11, 2004 at 9:00 a.m. and three candidates on January 12, 2004 at 9:00 a.m. for the Health & Human Services Director position.

Benefit Specialist: Connie included a program information sheet that she has been distributing to senior citizens along with her monthly report. Dan stressed the importance of informing senior citizens of the homestead tax credit.

Community Programs: Rob reported On-Call Training with Law Enforcement was held December 1-2, 2004. Four counties were approved by the state for new on-call certification. We will need mobile response between 8:00 and 4:00 during the work week. Byron and Rob will handle adult crisis calls and a child protection workers have agreed to deal with juvenile issues. Northwest Counseling deals with evening hour calls. The first county resident has been placed at the new facility, Northwest Lakeshore, in Rice Lake. Eight to eleven counties in the western region are working together in obtaining a SAMSHA grant with particular focus on meth usage. To date we have had 105 emergency detentions - 26 kids and 79 adults.

Children & Families: Cost for home placements continue to go down as there are no placements in child care institutions (high dollars). This unit is doing a good job.

Home Care: Katie Sundquist presented an annual review of the home care program. Policies are updated as the laws change. Home Care is buying an INR machine for use in the home. We cannot bill for running blood tests, however, it will save money as now the nurse has to make a visit to draw client's blood (up to three times a week) take it to a lab and if a doctor orders medication changes, the nurse makes another home visit to change medications when needed. The chart audit was explained. Any suggestions of how to improve home care services are welcome or if anyone has questions, contact Katie.

Public Health: Carol Larson gave an update on influenza vaccine status. Clinics are scheduled for Friday, December 17 at 9:30-11:30 a.m. and on December 20 at 2:00-4:00 p.m. Twenty-nine confirmed influenza cases have been reported in Wisconsin. Dave Alderman commended the public health staff for very efficiently running flu clinics. Questions were asked regarding the toddler car seat program. Laurel Stusek will check on funding sources for the car seats.

Long Term Support - Birth to Three: Dan reported the unit arranged another successful Thanksgiving basket program for needy families. A hand crocheted afghan (donated by an individual) was also included with every basket.

Economic Support/W-2: The unit's caseload remains fairly stable.

A motion was made by Bert Lund, seconded by Norm Bickford, to approve the vouchers in the amount of $400,395.08; motion carried.

Dan expressed gratitude for the great committee and board members he had worked with throughout his seventeen years as Director, and for the support he received from the committees for his programs and hoped the new director would continue to have a good relationship with the board.

Dave Alderman commended Dan for the great job he has done and congratulated him on his retirement.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:40 p.m.