Taylor County W-2 Community Steering Committee December 19, 2006 Chairman Arlen Albrecht called the December 19, 2006 meeting of the Taylor County W-2 Community Steering Committee to order at 8:02 am in the boardroom of the Taylor County Human Services Department. Members in attendance included Arlen Albrecht, Kathy Danen, Kris O Leary, Dave Hemke, Father Gerard Willger, Randy Oaklief, Dan Harrell, Sue Hady, and Jill Koenig. A motion was made by Father Gerard and seconded by Dan Harrell to approve the minutes of the September 19, 2006 meeting as printed. The motion carried unanimously. There was no public input. Dave Hemke shared W-2 caseload information with the committee. The W-2 caseload stands at 7 for the month of December with payments for the month totaling $4,206.00. There are 5 cases containing participants with significant barriers to employment with a number of them seeking Social Security or SSI benefits. Two cases are young mothers receiving CMC payments for 12 weeks. Dave Hemke passed out the supportive services information for the committee s review. The October FoodShare caseload stood at 522 cases, up from a year ago, with benefits totaling $68,169. The benefit amount goes up and down depending on the number of cases, the number of individuals in each case and the amount of unearned or earned income of individuals in the case. The October Medicaid caseload stood at 1394 cases. Medicaid expenditures reported in October by EDS are for2433 recipients totaling $1,051,881. The largest percentage of expenditures was for skilled nursing home care. Dave also handed the W-2 Performance Standards 2006 report. The Taylor County W-2 Program is meeting most of the performance standards. Father Gerard expressed concern about individuals with mental illness and if they were represented in the caseload figures. Dave Hemke responded that the FoodShare and Medicaid figures do, indeed, reflect the eligibility of a number of individuals with mental illness. The Medicaid payment information from EDS would also reflect payments made on behalf of SSI recipients with mental illness. He also responded saying individuals with personality disorders seem to have a particularly difficult time being found eligible for Social Security and/or SSI.. Randy Oaklief asked if the W-2 caseload was high for a county of our size. Dave Hemke said it might be a little higher but is comparable to W-2 caseloads in Price and Ashland Counties and was, perhaps, a bit lower that Clark County s. Dave added that Taylor County is blessed with supportive services, agencies and resources that assist low income families. Sue Hady commented that the Department of Workforce Development has provided funding to support slightly more than four W-2 cases in payment positions over the two-year funding cycle and Taylor County s caseload was, certainly, running ahead of that number. Arlen Albrecht shared that the University of Wisconsin Extension sponsored a Peasant Gourmet Club and also gave cooking classes for people on low budgets. Twenty people took part in this event which was held at the Taylor County Fairgrounds. Kathy Danen handed out the Taylor County snapshot, information on Taylor County s unemployment rates and the most recent issue of Workforce Observation.
The committee s next meeting date will be March 20, 2007 at 8:00 am. The remaining 2007 meeting dates are tentatively scheduled for June 19, September 18 and December 18. A motion was made by Arlen Albrecht and seconded by Dan Harrell for adjournment. The motion carried unanimously at 8:52 a.m. Respectfully submitted, David C. Hemke for Kathy Danen, Secretary
Taylor County W-2 Community Steering Committee September 19, 2006 Chairman Arlen Albrecht called the September 19, 2006 meeting of the Taylor County W-2 Community Steering Committee to order at 8:04 am in the boardroom of the Taylor County Human Services Department. Members in attendance included Arlen Albrecht, Kathy Danen, Kris O Leary, Len Hamman, Dave Hemke, Father Gerard Willger, Randy Oaklief, Dan Harrell and Sue Hady. Also attending was Theresa Valenti, who has replaced Irene Fallon as director of Stepping Stones. Irene had been representing Stepping Stones on this committee prior to her retirement in August. A motion was made by Randy Oaklief and seconded by Father Gerard to approve the minutes of the March 21, 2006 meeting as printed. The motion carried unanimously. There was no public input. Dan Harrell stated that the US Forest Service has lost the contract for their senior citizen employment program. They had had the contract for about 30 years and have had employees from this program from all walks of life. Many of these employees have been with their program 12-18 years. A private contractor will now be operating program. Dan was cautiously optimistic that some potential liability issues could be resolved and the new contractor would be able to continue to place individuals with the US Forest Service as they have been excellent employees and perform a number of tasks that may go undone if they are not able to be retained. Dave Hemke shared W-2 caseload information with the committee. The W-2 caseload is at 7 in payment positions. Payments for September totaled $4,486.00. There are 5 individuals that are seeking Social Security or SSI benefits as disabled individuals. Another is a young mother with an infant who will leave the program after receiving 12 weeks of benefits. Dave Hemke passed out the supportive services information for the committee s review. The July Foodshare caseload stands at 501 cases. This is about 70 cases more than one year ago. Benefits totaling $65,226 were paid in July. The July Medicaid caseload stands at 1391 cases. Medicaid expenditures reported by EDS totaled $1,339,237. The largest percentage of these expenditures was for nursing home care with HMO capitation payments and prescription drug payments having the next largest percentages of expenditure. Dave also handed out the W-2 Performance Standards 2006 Report. Performance is on track for the year. Entered employments are steadily growing while the average wage rate employment still lags behind. Dave explained that the established rate is one of the highest in the state but he still hoped the program would be able to meet the standard in the future. Father Gerard asked about the state trying to phase out nursing home care which lead to a discussion about the implementation of FamilyCare. Sue Hady expressed her concern that DHFS does not have the funding to implement the program on a statewide basis and is considering using county tax levy to help fund the program. She explained that while no one was opposed to FamilyCare expansion she was concerned that any use of county levy or reduction of DHFS payments to the county could have a significant impact on other services the county provides for abused and neglected children, the developmentally disabled or clients with mental health or AODA difficulties. Sue also commented that department heads have been asked to keep their budget requests at 2% or less than last year s request due to state-imposed funding restrictions. She and
the other department heads are doing the best that they can with the resources available and are trying very hard to live within the limits established by the Taylor County Board of Supervisors. There was also a general discussion concerning the lack of financial assistance available to individuals. The Taylor County General Relief Program is projecting a $10,000 - $12,000 deficit before the end of 2006. The Salvation Army also has no funding until its next fiscal year. Likewise, the Taylor County Emergency Shelter and Utility (FEMA) Program is out of funds until sometime in 2007. Kathy Danen spoke about the Human Resources Clinic that will be being held on October 12, 2006 at the Centennial Community Center in Stetsonville. Arlen Albrecht shared the good news about the Community Gardens Project. The project went from 22 garden beds to 30 garden beds this year. While some of these 4 x 8 gardens did better than others it was estimated that each garden produced a vegetable crop worth about $200.00. Dave Hemke also mentioned that he had been contacted about how individuals might be able to use their FoodShare cards at the farmers market held in Medford on Saturday mornings. He has provided some names of individuals with DHFS in Madison that might be able to help. Apparently, individuals are able to use FoodShare cards at some of the larger farmers markets in the southern part of the state. The next meeting of the Taylor County W-2 Community Steering Committee is scheduled for Tuesday, December 19, 2006 at 8:00 am in the boardroom of the Taylor County Human Services Department. A motion for adjournment was made by Len Hammen and seconded by Dan Harrell. The motion carried unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 9:11 a.m. Respectfully submitted, David C. Hemke for Kathy Danen, Secretary
Taylor County W-2 Community Steering Committee March 21, 2006 Vice Chairman Len Hamman called the March 21, 2006 meeting of the Taylor County W-2 Community Steering Committee to order at 8:07 am in the boardroom of the Taylor County Human Services Department. Members in attendance included Arlen Albrecht, Kathy Danen, Kris O Leary, Len Hamman, Pastor Irv Case, Dave Hemke, Father Gerard Wilger, Randy Oaklief and Jill Koenig. A motion was made by Kris O Leary and seconded by Father Gerard to approve the minutes of the December 20, 2005 meeting as printed. The motion carried unanimously. There was no public input. Dave Hemke shared the year-to-date benefit expenditures of the Wisconsin Works (W-2) Program. The 2006-2007 projected expenditures are $90,496. The 2006-2007 benefit allocation is for $86,715 which results in a projected benefit shortfall of $3,781. Many things can happen (and probably will) happen between now and the end of this funding period that will have an impact on what is now a projected shortfall. Dave Hemke shared W-2 caseload information with the committee. The W-2 caseload is at six. Payments for March total $3,682.00. Three of the cases are in W-2T payment positions and one of these cases will soon be receiving SSI and leaving the W-2 Program. One case is in a CMC position and should be leaving the program in April. While there appears to be some possibility for caseload reduction, Dave said he was aware of at least three individuals that might be potential W-2 cases in the future. Dave Hemke passed out the supportive services information for the committee s review. The January FoodShare caseload is up slightly with a total of 484 cases, with benefit payments totaling $60,016. The caseload has been rising steadily over the last couple of months. The January Medicaid caseload stands at 1377 cases. Medicaid expenditures by EDS total $1,190,310 for the 2578 of 3044 participants using their Forward cards in October. The largest percentage of these expenditures was for skilled nursing home care followed by HMO capitation payments and prescription drug payments. Dave also handed out the final W-2 Performance Standards report for 2004-2005 contract year. The Taylor County W-2 Program has met or exceeded all of the standards established by the Department of Workforce Development. Kris O Leary initiated a conversation about Medicaid. Dave described the various expansions of Medicaid including Healthy Start, BadgerCare and Family Planning Waiver as well as the recent expansion of prenatal care coverage to incarcerated individuals and undocumented individuals. This led to a discussion of health care reform, health care initiatives and health care costs in general. Everyone agreed health care was a complicated issue which will be difficult to resolve. Kathy Danen spoke about Taylor County labor market trends and provided the group with various web sites for employers. She also talked about the upcoming Taylor County Employer Breakfast and the Job Fair planned for sometime in May. Randy Oaklief reported that Black River Industries (BRI) may be hiring some part time positions this summer due to increased employment opportunities and new contracts. They have received a sewing contract with the Department of Corrections for their uniform shirts, trousers, jackets, and caps. BRI has also added a commercial/industrial shredding machine and is now doing confidential shredding for businesses. At the present time the shredded
paper is going to dairy farmers for bedding. They will also continue to do rest area maintenance and will be doing custodial work for the National Guard Armories in Medford and Abbotsford. Arlen Albrecht offered the assistance of the University of Wisconsin- Extension to BRI in the area of marketing their various businesses. The Star News offices have been reorganized and remodeled according to Kris O Leary. The advertising section is now up front with the reporters in the rear of the building. She is pleased with the improvements. A motion was made by Kris O Leary and seconded by Randy Oaklief for adjournment. The motion carried unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 a.m. Respectfully submitted, David C. Hemke for Kathy Danen, Secretary