January 21, 2022 Minutes

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Human Services Advisory Commission - Meeting Minutes

Meeting: January 21, 2022

In Attendance: Human Services Advisory Commission Members: Stacey Casteel, Stephanie Gausch, Stanley Graffis, Cynthia Horn, Enita Kearns-Hout, Lori Saine, Lisa Taylor, Tom Teixeira, Adam Turk, Melanie Woolman

Absent: Human Services Advisory Commission Members: Elizabeth Barber, Stephanie Foos, Rebecca Lorenz

In Attendance: Weld County Department of Human Services Representatives: Tami Grant, Julie Witkowski, Karin Crandall, Tobi Cullins, Lesley Cobb, Kyle Ewertz, Karina Amaya-Ragland, Robin Overmyer, Megan Kelly

Recording Secretary: Tobi Cullins

Welcome

The meeting was called to order at 8:15 a.m.

Tami Grant welcomed members to the first meeting of 2022.

Introductions

Each member shared their name and associated entity.

2022 Membership/Officers

The identified members who indicated an interest in the open officer positions were brought forward and a vote was taken.

  • Secretary – Stacey Casteel. Motion to approve (A. Turk). Second (S. Graffis). Approved unanimously.
  • Vice-Chairperson – Elizabeth Barber. Motion to approve (A. Turk). Second (T. Texeira). Approved unanimously.
  • Chairperson – Stanley Graffis. Motion to approve (A. Turk). Second (E. Kearns-Hout). Approved unanimously.

Review of Minutes

Minutes from October 2021 were reviewed and approved. Motion to approve minutes as presented (S. Graffis). Second (E. Kearns-Hout). Approved unanimously. 2023 Membership, Officers, and Dates

Orientation

Karin Crandall conducted the annual membership orientation including a review of:

  • Bylaws to include Duties and Responsibilities
  • Volunteer Hours Tracking and Form
  • Confidentiality Statement and Conflict of Interest Policy and Disclosure Form

Karin highlighted the following:

  • The membership is comprised of three (3) equal parts representing the public sector, low-income client sector, and private sector.
  • A needs assessment is conducted every three (3) years for CSBG. This is presented to the membership.
  • The membership will annually review, and vote if required, on the CSBG budget and plan, Core Services Providers, and audits.
  • The membership should track their volunteer hours throughout the year on the Volunteer Tracking Hours form. Eligible hours include the quarterly HSAC meetings, Department related training, HSAC related work groups, and HSAC events.
  • Members are required to complete the Confidentiality Statement and Conflict of Interest Policy and Disclosure Form annually. Karin reminded members that anything heard or seen while participating in an HSAC meeting or event is strictly confidential.

Current members should submit their 2021 Volunteer Tracking Hours Form and Confidentiality Statement and Conflict of Interest Policy and Disclosure Form to Tobi within the next few weeks.

Client Feedback/Surveys

Julie Witkowski discussed client feedback surveys currently being administered at the Department. She presented client feedback from TBRI classes, Foster Care Program and Prevention Services. The Department will include survey information at future meetings.

Community Services Block Grant Update and Financial Report

Karin reviewed the final budget and noted no changes from the prior budget reviewed with the membership. She noted that the budget includes funding for the annual poverty conference which is scheduled for July. The conference is open to members who would like to attend. This year’s conference is a regional conference to discuss what communities are doing to support those in poverty.

Karin discussed the status of COVID funding and noted that the Department is considering a community-wide opportunity. Input has been received from the Colorado Community Action Board and input is being sought from the State. The funding cannot be used for brick and mortar projects and has to be utilized for individuals who are determined to be in poverty.

Stacey Casteel inquired about the possibility of funding being utilized for services for single moms, such as car repair and maintenance.

Karin reiterated that it is no longer required that COVID impact be determined as the impact is now considered across the board. It is anticipated that the poverty percentage will stay at 200% and lobbyists are seeking to make that permanent.

Karin reviewed the Department’s mission statement and noted that as a requirement of CSBG, it must be reviewed every five (5) years to ensure it encompasses the tenets of CSBG including focusing on collaboration and meeting community needs. The membership agreed the mission statement embodied these tenets.

Strategic Plan Update

Representatives from each of the three Strategic Action Teams presented information on their respective teams including primary goals of the team, 2021 accomplishments, and current initiatives/projects.

A vote was called for the Department’s current Strategic Plan. Motion to approve as previously presented (T. Teixeira). Second (S. Graffis). Approved unanimously (L. Taylor abstained).

Tobi will resend the Strategic to the membership.

Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA)

Megan Kelly, Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) Supervisor, provided an update on ERA. Megan shared that the ERA team is fully staffed at this time. The Department was given $9.2 million in funding and is currently on track to spend down the remaining $6 million in the allotted time frame. She noted that funding can be used for attorney fees, late fees, rental arrears.

Megan shared there is no waiting period however there must be a COVID impact, and the individual seeking assistance must be facing homelessness or be homeless. In addition to immediate assistance, individuals may be eligible for up to three (3) months of future assistance. The ERA team works diligently to continuously connect individuals with additional resources beyond ERA.
Currently, the team is addressing the backlog from mid-October. If an individual needing assistance is facing disconnection or eviction, they are moved to the top of the list per funding rules. The ERA team received 99 evictions in the past week.

The team is current on returning phone calls. They receive up to 100 calls per day and have enlisted the assistance of other Department staff to help address calls and emails.

Megan shared she is very proud of her team and the work they are doing. She notes that they are being forthright with individuals regarding wait list status and that they are working collaboratively with landlords to ensure they obtain all the necessary fee information and understand the timelines for disbursement of funds.

It was further noted that Weld County is being diligent about fraud and careful to balance the need and due diligence. So far, Weld has experienced two (2) cases of fraud; both involving stolen identification.

In 2022 so far, 13 households have been assisted for a total of $33,000.

Contract Services Update

Lesley Cobb provided an update regarding contracted services. She shared that 964 items were processed last year, with the majority of those being tied to Child Welfare. Refer to handout for details.

Lesley also noted that volunteers are needed for the Contracted Services Work group. Interested members should contact Tobi.

Application Fee Changes

Kyle Ewertz, Division Head for child support, shared that the application fee tied to child support services has been waived. He indicated this will benefit clients pursuing child support and help children receive the support they need.

Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) Reskill, Upskill, Next-Skills (RUN) Grant

Karina Amaya-Ragland, Workforce Director for Employment Services, presented information on a new grant awarded to the Employment Services. The Reskill, Upskill, Next Skills (RUN) Grant provides funding for those who have experienced a loss in education, training, and/or employment. Funding can be used for tuition, books, and associated fees for incumbent worker training or on-the-job training, up to twelve (12) months, in priority (in demand) fields such as criminal justice, construction, and healthcare.
The grant is available statewide through workforce centers. Weld County has begun conversations with District 6 regarding their internship program.

Office of Behavioral Health (OBH) Community Behavioral Grant

Julie Witkowski, Division Head for Family Resource, presented information on an Office of Behavioral Health (OBH) grant awarded to the Department. This grant supports expansion or improvement of local or regional behavioral health programs and will be used by the Department to create a High-Fidelity Wraparound (HFW) team to work directly with children and families work with Child Welfare, Family Resource and Area Agency on Aging who have complex behavioral/mental health needs. The Department was awarded $600,000 to be spent over an 18-month time frame. Funding will be used to build a sustainable program that includes four facilitators and one supervisor.

Division Audits/Evaluations/Reports

Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) Program 2020 Monitoring

Karina provided information regarding the Program 2020 Monitoring which encompassed the period of 07/01/20 through 06/30/21 and included monitoring for program, financial and equal opportunity for Dislocated Worker (DW), Workforce Investment Opportunity Act (WIOA), Adult Worker, Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), RecoverCO programs. There were no compliance issues noted and the Department was instructed to continue working in the manner they have. There were minor recommendations noted including implementing a 14-day rule for data entry and implementing associated training, improving quality of data entry around credentials, ongoing training for real-time case notes, and developing an internal policy around grant modification. The Department has responded to these recommendations and is awaiting a response from CDLE.

Administrative Review Division In-Home/Out-of-Home Update (Weld County Quality Assurance Report)

Robin Overmyer, Child Welfare Deputy Director, presented the Summary of Strengths and Summary of Areas Needing Improvement from the Weld County Quality Assurance Report. Strengths and Areas Needing Improvement were noted in the areas of Assessment Review, In-Home Case Review, and Out-of-Home Case Review. The report is the result of an Administrative Review Division (ARD) In-Home/Out-of-Home Update conducted in late 2021. The full report was provided electronically to the membership.

Community Updates

  • United Way (Melanie)
    • The Building Quality Childcare Conference is occurring February 19 at the DoubleTree.
    • The Annual County for homelessness is occurring January 25 and will establish a data set for the community.
  • Immigrant and Refugee Center of Northern Colorado (Lisa)
    • The Center was awarded Innovation Funds which will be used for a full-time Workforce Navigator.
  • High Plains Housing Development Corp. (Jodi)
    • An update will be available at the April meeting regarding an ongoing development project.
  • Catholic Charities (Enita)
    • The Bonell project, the non-congregate shelter, closed. It was very successful in serving the most vulnerable through effective partnership.
    • The Cold Weather Shelter was not able to move to the identified new location due to a delay on City permits. It continues to be at the TriPointe location however new ordinances in Evans are creating challenges. Averaging 60 guests per night.
  • VFW 2121 (Stanley)
    • Continuing to work with NoCo Veterans.
    • A banquet sponsored by the Americanism Program is being held for first responders in February and will include recognition of middle school and high school scholars.
    • Weld County’s Veterans officer is seeking assistance with claims.
  • Greeley and Weld County Housing Authorities
    • No budget approved at this time. Funding is received monthly; approximately $700,000 per month.
    • 220 units are being built at the Greeley Mall location, funded by private activity bonds. Units will be fixed rent and Section 8 will be accepted.

The meeting adjourned at 10:30 a.m.

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