October 27 2023 Minutes

Human Services Advisory Commission - Meeting Minutes

Meeting: July 21, 2023

In Attendance: Human Services Advisory Commission Members: Stacey Casteel, Ernest Cienfuegos-Baca, Stephanie Foos, Stanley Graffis, Jodi Hartmann, Scott K. James, Tammy Phillips, and Adam Turk

Absent: Human Services Advisory Commission Members: Elizabeth Barber, Stephanie Gausch, Enita Kearns-Hout, Lisa Taylor, and Tom Teixeira

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 8:16 a.m.

Presentation

Community Needs Assessment - Public Health Emergency (PHE)
Elizabeth McEvoy from the Weld County Public Health & Environment presented the Weld Community Health Survey Key Findings for low-income residents in Weld County. The Questionnaire was 50 questions long. The households chosen to complete the survey are randomly selected. The 2022 Survey was fielded May – August 2022. Elizabeth gave a detailed report on the Demographics of the survey participants.

• The topic Adult Health Insurance Coverage was presented. 16% of Low Income (less than 138% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL)) did not have health insurance compared to 6% of not low-income participants.
• Mental Health. Elizabeth reported that 28% of residents needed mental health care in the past year. Of those at or below 138% FPL, 39.2% needed mental health care in the past year.
• Food security was discussed. One in five, or 22%, of low-income residents reported they were usually or always worried about having enough money to afford nutritious meals.
• Elizabeth presented that more than 1 in 3, or 35% of low-income residents reported they were always worried about having enough money to afford their rent/mortgage. This is up from 18% in 2019. The survey showed that 44% of low-income reported that they were housing cost burdened.
• Community based services were discussed. The highest percentage of needed/used services were for nutritious meals.

Introductions

Review of Minutes from July 21, 2023
Motion to approve was made by Adam Turk and seconded by Stacey Casteel. The minutes were unanimously approved.

2024 Membership, Officers, and Dates

Membership and Officers

Julie Witkowski talked about membership.  Julie reported that five members terms are expiring at the end of 2023.  They are Elizabeth, Stanley, Jodi, Anita, and Tom.  We are looking at updating the bylaws so the members who are at the end of their terms can renew if they would like to do that.  Right now, bylaws limit the members to two (2) three-year terms.  The County Attorney has reviewed the bylaws and DHS has made a recommendation to update those.  Tami explained that these would be updated in county code.

Future Meeting Dates

Lesley gave a summary of the dates for Core Contracted Services and the quarterly meetings.

Community Services Block Grant Update and Reports

Lennie Bottorff reported on the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Expenditure Report as of September 2023.  He reported that we are running short on funds.  To date we have only received $200,000.00 of our projected funding but anticipate receiving an additional $60,000.00 to $70,000.00 in December.

Karin Crandall presented the CSBG Needs Assessment.  Motion to accept the CSBG Needs Assessment was made by Adam Turk and seconded by Stacey Casteel.  Motion passed unanimously.

Karin Crandall presented the CSBG Budget for 2024-2026 (1 Year).  Motion to approve the CSBG Budget for 2024-2026 (1 Year) was made by Jodi Hartmann and seconded by Ernest Cienfuegos-Baca.  Motion passed unanimously.

Karin Crandall presented the CSBG Application-Action Plan for 2024-2026.  Motion to accept the CSBG Application-Action Plan for 2024-2026 was made by Adam Turk and seconded by Tammy Phillips.  Motion passed unanimously. 

Strategic Plan Update

Kristen Sigg explained that the Strategic Plan team has incorporated a few new initiatives. Some of those are posting the core values posters, which are posted throughout all of our campuses. 

Contract Services Update

Lesley Cobb provided an update regarding contracted services for the 3^rd quarter. 

Colorado Department of Human Services Housing Grant

Julie Witkowski gave an update regarding the Housing Stability Program.  They have added a fourth Housing Stability Case Manager with a new pilot program through CDHS targeting individuals who apply for public assistance that indicate they are struggling with housing stability.   

Division Audits/Evaluations/Reports

• County Audit
  • Lennie Bottorff reported on the County audit that was conducted.  No concerns were noted.
• CSBG
  • Karin Crandall reported on the CSBG that was completed in August.  There were no audit findings, and everything is great with no recommendations.
• Foster Care Program
  • Julie Rudley reported they had an audit on the Foster Care Program at the beginning of the summer.  This audit looked at foster families who were initially certified in the last year as well as recertified.  We had more areas of strengths than areas needing improvement. 

Department Updates

• Employment Services
  • Karina Amaya-Ragland reported that the Veterans Service Office of Weld County, which was under Weld County Facilities, is transitioning under Human Services, Employment Services.  They will be moving to the Human Services campus, Building B, on November 22^nd.  Currently there are three fulltime positions.
• Child Support
  • Kyle Ewertz reported they Child Support will be moving from this campus, Building A, to downtown in the Chase building.  This will affect about 30 employees. Once they move out of Building A, the additional staff that Area Agency on Aging is hiring will move in.
  • Kyle also reported that they now have a TouchPay kiosk that is located in Building A that allows clients to pay Child Support payments.  With this kiosk, clients can pay by cash or with credit card and payments post to their accounts within 48 hours.
• Child Welfare
  • Julie Rudley reported that the Family Support and Visitation Center (FSVC) moved to 8^th Street downtown.  This space is bigger and now has nine visit rooms.  There will be an open house on November 16^th in the morning and Commission members are welcome to come.
  • Julie also reported that “visitation” will now be called “family time, parent/child family time” per new legislation that passed last session.  The FSVC will eventually have a name change as well.
• Legislative Updates
  • Tami Grant reported that they are preparing for a legislative session to be fast and furious.  We are very focused on mental health and access to services when it comes to youth.  The Systems of Care bill will be a priority which will help redefine and refocus how mental health services will be made assessable despite the payor source.

Community Updates

• Stacey Casteel
  • Stacey wanted to invite everyone to a Candidate Forum regarding the upcoming election that will be held tonight, October 27^th.
• Adam Turk
  • Adam reported that there is a committee that is putting out recommendations to legislation about safe injection sites.  The City of Greeley is adamantly opposed to this, and he is relaying this information on behalf of the Chief of Police Association.  This is a local control bill, and he is not real worried about it.
• Ernest Cienfuegos-Baca
  • Ernest reported that the Cold Weather Shelter will be open on November 8^th.  It will be a night shelter from 7:00 pm to 7:00 am.  The Navigation Center or Day Shelter will be open during 9:00 am to 3:30 pm.
  • Ernest also reported that Project Connect was a great success and they had over 750 people attended.  Also, over 300 volunteers helped.
• Stephanie Foos
  • No updates to report.
• Tammy Phillips
  • No updates to report.
• Jodi Hartmann
  • No updates to report.
• Stanley Graffis
  • Stanley reported that Veterans Day is coming up and they will have a celebration at the Veteran’s Memorial in Bittersweet Park.  It will start at 11:00 am and they will have a Representative from the 69^th House District as the guest speaker. 

The meeting adjourned at 10:26 a.m.

Special Vote

November 15, 2023 - A special vote took place via email regarding proposed HSAC Bylaw revisions.  The proposed revision changes Article III (E) to eliminate term limits for HSAC members and to clarify that all appointed members will be standing members.

Result of vote:  Majority vote was “yes” to approve the proposed HSAC Bylaw revisions.

• Total Votes:  11
• Yes:  9
• No:  2