July 21, 2023 Minutes

Human Services Advisory Commission - Meeting Minutes

Meeting: July 21, 2023

In Attendance: Human Services Advisory Commission Members: Stacey Casteel, Stephanie Foos, Stephanie Gausch, Stanley Graffis, Jodi Hartmann, Scott K. James, Enita Kearns-Hout, Tammy Phillips, and Tom Teixeira

Absent: Human Services Advisory Commission Members: Elizabeth Barber, Lisa Taylor, Adam Turk and Melanie Woolman

In Attendance: Weld County Department of Human Services Representatives: Julie Witkowski, Karin Crandall, Tami Grant, and Lesley Cobb

Recording Secretary: Lesley Cobb

Welcome

The meeting was called to order at 8:18 a.m.

Presentation

Jodi Hartmann gave an update on the Affordable Housing Project. High Plains Housing Development Corp. was awarded a 9% Low Income Tax Credit. Jodi stated that they had many community partners at the table and so much community work has been done for this project in order to build a structure that
will be able to house our most vulnerable population. Some of the highlights of this projects are that it will not be your typical multi-family housing but will be 58 one-bedroom units with 100% of the units being supported by project-based vouchers from the State of Colorado. The population served will have
incomes between 0-30% AMI. Some of the things that will be on-site will be property management, laundry facilities, and bicycles. Safety and security will be a priority with a lot of cameras and staff onsite and one access point for guests. There will also be counseling offices with case managers and
possibly one licensed clinical social worker. Jodi explained where the housing project will be located (123 9th Avenue, Greeley) and that there will be a lot of work happening over the next several months. She also went over the timeline and what each phase will include and felt that this project will boost the
neighborhood. If all goes well, they are hoping to start leasing apartments around September or October 2025. Jodi informed everyone that High Plains will not be operating this facility once it is built. High Plains will still own the property, but Volunteers of America will be the lead service provider and will have onsite management staff to do all of the programming.

Introductions

Review of Minutes from April 21, 2023

Motion to approve was made by Stacey Casteel and seconded by Jodi Hartmann. The minutes were unanimously approved.

Community Services Block Grant (Karin Crandall)

Karin did a high-level review of the 2022 CSBG Annual Report.

Karin reviewed the CSBG 2023 Financial Report through June 30, 2023.

Reunification Month - June

Jaime Irwin shared that June was Reunification Month. The Board of County Commissioners did a Proclamation at the start of the month. She highlighted that at several events throughout the month they had individuals come share their successful reunification stories. There was also an event held at the
courthouse in collaboration with court staff to celebrate reunifications and highlight three families.

Strategic Plan Update

Kristen Sigg explained that the Strategic Plan team has incorporated a few new initiatives. Some of those are new employee highlights that go out in our announcements to staff, and the creation of the core values posters which will be posted throughout all of our campuses. For the upcoming Quarter 3 the
team’s focus will be on recruitment and making government jobs cool again.

Public Health Emergency (PHE) Update

Andie Garnand reported on Medicaid and the end of the Public Health Emergency. On May 11, 2023, all of the clients who were locked in during the PHE need to be reassessed and potentially could be dis-enrolled. Health Care Policy and Financing and the Feds changed the rules on how clients are reassessed for Medicaid and are now requiring clients to sign their re-enrollment packet and return them to the Department even if there are no changes. Andie and her staff are actively reaching out to clients to inform them of this change to avoid Medicaid coverage being stopped.

Early Childhood/Universal Preschool Update

Breanna Neeley gave an overview of what the Universal Preschool program is. This program just went live in January, and it has had some ups and downs. United Way has received over 35,000 applications and have placed around 11,000 children (3-year-olds and 4-year-olds) in Weld County specifically.
Currently there are 200 providers in Weld County, 72 providers that are participating in the Universal Preschool program, and 10 that are on-boarding. United Way is working through funding and how the State will be supporting full-time funding for families. Breanna is working closely with our state representatives to see what type of resources they can provide to these families especially for the 3-year-olds.

Contract Services Update

Lesley Cobb provided an update regarding contracted services. During the second quarter of 2023, Contract Management completed 273 items. Lesley highlighted that they now have trend data to look back at and Contract Management processed about 30 more items than last year. Last quarter was busy
due to the State Fiscal year. Child Welfare had the majority of items processed which included 25 state licensed out-of-home placement agreements as well as 34 respite agreements.

Division Audits/Evaluations/Reports

• AAA Ombudsman
  • Raegan Maldonado reported on the Long-term Care Ombudsman program. The State Ombudsman office did an onsite audit in January, and we were in full compliance. Raegan reported that we have been in full compliance for many years now and highlighted some of the strengths that were recognized as a result of the recent audit.
• Adult Protective Services
  • Dawn Simmons explained what services Adult Protection provides. She reported that the State Administrative Review Division had an in-person audit here in March. As a result of the audit, Weld had three pages of strengths, many of which exceeded Statewide averages. One area did come back as needing improvement, which was around documentation and did not affect our service provision in any way. The State also recognized the Weld team for doing good work despite challenges.
• Older Americans Act
  • Kelly Morrison explained what services are provided through the Older Americans Act. She reported that her division had an on-site audit of their transportation company, Meals on Wheels, this spring by the State Unit on Aging. The audit came back deficiency free which was the third one in a row.

Grants/Awards

• Hill N Park Grant
  • Kelly Morrison reported that due to a grant award (SB 290), we were awarded money for the construction of the new Hill N Park Senior Center. Habitat for Humanity will be the project manager for the build with Roche Construction as the builder. Kelly highlighted that in addition to the grant award, with the help of our community partners, we have received over $26,000.00 in donated services for this project. The groundbreaking will be August 1st.
• Case Management Agency RFP award
  • Kelly Morrison explained that the state is coming into compliance with Federal regulations to be conflict free for both case management and providers. Weld applied to be the region’s Case Management Agency through the State RFP and were awarded the designation. Kelly noted that as a result of the award, the real work starts and there will be a 14-week transition period. Due to the award, there will be 40 to 45 new staff.
• Tony Grampsas Grant and the Behavioral Health Grant
  • Julie Witkowski announced that the department was awarded the Tony Grampsas Grant and the HB 1281 Children, Youth and Family Services Grant. Both of these grants will be funding our High-Fidelity Wraparound program to fund the entire program until the end of 2026. Her division is also working on finishing Medicaid credentialing to help fund the program once the grants end.

Community Updates

• Tom Teixeira
  • Tom reported that Greeley-Weld Housing Authority is in the process of sending out letters bringing families off the waiting list for the county side of the Section 8 program. Tom explained that the city program is currently on hiatus as two new employees need training. The program is split among the two employees due to over 700 families within that program.
• Stephanie Gausch
  • Stephanie reported that Weld Food Bank continues to serve more people each month. They just ended their fiscal year on June 30th and are still compiling numbers. Preliminary numbers are that they served almost 1/3 of Weld County last year for individuals who were seeking food assistance and they are seeing increases in areas that they have not before. She also reported that the Food Bank got a new volunteer tracking system and were able to track how many unique individuals volunteered time with them.
• Stacey Casteel
  • Stacey is running for the School Board in Greeley/Evans and is working on her campaign. She participated in the 4th of July parade, and it was a lot of fun. Stacey will be doing some upcoming meet and greets throughout the city.
• Commissioner James
  • Commissioner James voiced that he is excited to work with Jamie and Tami to hopefully introduce a piece of legislation that would set up a children’s system of care regarding behavioral/mental health. They will be proposing a comprehensive level of care for children that would bring together mental health services and natural supports to keep children in their communities whenever possible. He explained that they are wanting legislators to look at a system used in New Jersey as an example on how to take care of our kids.
• Enita Kearns-Hout
  • Enita voiced her awareness of the community need for food and their appreciation for the Weld Food Bank. She explained that every week their kitchen prepares at least 100 sandwiches, if not more, for people who are coming to their doors hungry. Enita pointed out that they continue to see a need for single women and families.
• Stanley Graffis
  • Stanley shared that the VFW 2121 hosted the State VFW convention in June which took place in Garden City and the Greeley post. He reported that there were around 350 who attended. Stanley will be attending the upcoming national convention in Arizona.

The meeting adjourned at 10:08 a.m.