 Welcome to Sheboygan County government working for you. I'm Dan Lamy who co-host of our monthly show with Adam Piener, our administrative coordinator and we tried to bring you the services and Departments that are offered to us as county taxpayers and residents of Sheboygan County and Each month we try to focus on one department this month We have Anne Wundergem director of health and human services with us. We're gonna focus on health and human services We have 23 departments. We've just finished our budgets and and I've noticed that of the 23 Departments health and human services has our largest budget 35 the lower 35 million So you have a fairly large department a lot of employees and that's what we're gonna focus on today But as we start and why don't you give us a little background about yourself and your involvement with Sheboygan County? Great well, I've been with Sheboygan County approximately 20 years and a number of capacities I started out at the Comprehensive Health Care Center as their volunteer coordinator and Activity coordinator from there I worked under contract with Sheboygan County within the social services department And I did grant writing and program planning for the county and then in 1986 was hired on as a social work supervisor From there became the division manager of social services and in June of this year Was hired as the director of the health and human services department And the health and human services department one of the things we tried to do in the last couple years is have a mission statement A vision statement for our different apartments Could you just fill us in a little bit about the mission and of the department and responsibilities of the health and human services department? I can do that our official mission statement I should say is to improve the life and self-sufficiency for Sheboygan County residents What we unofficially say is we provide services to Sheboygan County residents womb to tomb Basically because our services are there prenatally as you and I had talked about earlier But we also assist people after death in terms of what their burial costs and everything else in between And maybe you could tell just a little bit about the department I realize it's a large department So you can't tell us who's all working in your department But just a little bit about the number of employees and I know it's it's split up in the divisions Just a little of the makeup of the department I can do that and I'll try to keep it for you Dan We do have other things to cover today We recently moved to five divisions within the department based on my recommendation to the full county board to better Manage and provide those services. I'll try to do it alphabetically if I remember it that way We do have the division on aging and primarily they provide services to people who are elderly through Transportation benefit advocacy services. We also have the meal sites throughout the county that are run by that division And we provide support groups For individuals who are trying to care for people who are elderly or have a dementia such as Alzheimer's I'm learning a lot more about that division and as I said on December 13th I'm going to take a ride on one of the handy-care buses to see firsthand how the services are offered there in Our division of community programs. Oh, and I should mention Jim McCabe is our division manager of that division So if anybody ever has any questions, that's who they should contact And they're located in the annex building, which is the former Baxter's building if anybody needs to know the location Our division of community programs is headed by Joan Ketterman, and she's a recent hire also when Brian Bush now retired They provide services to individuals who have developmental disabilities Issues with alcohol or other drugs and mental health Joan's been quite busy because we've been doing the IMD study with the health care centers and have made our Recommendation to the board so she's been working diligently on building community capacity in terms of services for people with mental health issues those services also include Long-term support services through the community options program community integration program Those services are located in the annex in terms of better coordinating services with the division on aging And provide services to help people stay in the community in their own home if possible But otherwise alternative living arrangements such as community-based residential facilities and adult family homes So those services are located not only in the annex, but in our main building in terms of our outpatient clinic and our community support program We also have economic support w2, and that's the most recent division that I referred to and Liz Malak is our current division manager for that division and she started in September for us Previously had been an economic support supervisor, so we're pleased with that our economic support w2 division is located in their job center location out on Wilgus Avenue and They do not only the Wisconsin works w2 program in terms of employment and training But determine eligibility for food stamps medical assistance and a number of other financial assistance programs to help low-income people They're also responsible for child care certification and payments to help people afford child care to keep them employed So again going back to our self-sufficiency We have public health and right now is the flu season So we strongly recommend that everyone get their flu shot There's already three confirmed cases statewide and Dale wanted to make sure I mentioned that Dale hip and steel is our division manager for that program Public health services are located in our main building on North A Street But they also do outreach clinics in Plymouth and other areas of the county They do school nursing services immunization the women infant and child WIC program They've been very busy with health screening nutrition education and took part most recently with the bioterrorism Effects Nationwide and most recently we started the hotel restaurant inspection program So that's some of their responsibilities and last but not least is the division of social services and Marty Bonk who Replaced me as division manager back in July Now has responsibility for all child protective services, which is all the child abuse neglect all juvenile justice services Which includes those youth who end up having problems in the community? anything from serious crimes arm robbery burglary car theft to such things as truancy Which are a lesser offense are called a juvenile and need a protection or services type of offense They do anything from the initial assessment to determine whether or not we have jurisdiction All the way to providing ongoing services for children and families Including incarceration at the juvenile correctional facility For boys that's in Irma, Wisconsin and for girls that's at Southern Oaks. I Just think you covered everything for our next show next month How many employees Approximately do you have in your department if I was ever at full staff? We'd probably have about 206 full-time equivalency employees the 200 about 200 correct and With all these services that you provide How does a resident or some of the fields they want to access these services? How would they do that a number of ways we do have one main number that a receptionist can direct you at least to the Right place if you can give her some idea of what you're looking for and that's four five nine six four zero zero You can also walk in so as I explained before we have the three locations And if you need services in terms of support related to aging or a disability the annex Which is the Baxter building or our main building on North 8th or the Job Center? So I recommend if they really don't know just call four five nine six four hundred And I imagine some people have already figured out how to access those services absolutely Approximately how many Residents are availing themselves of your services at present time I did a quick calculation based on our annual report because we don't have an overall Information base and it's over 30,000 annually between everything we provide that includes individuals who are adults and includes children It includes families Those aren't duplicate numbers to the best of my knowledge They shouldn't be but there could be some again because we don't have a database that sorts it out by person So 25 to 30 percent of the residents are in county or our clients of health At one point or another yes Fairly significant very significant. That's probably why your department is the largest correct just budgeted department in our Connie government and you had talked about that earlier Dan and our budget is over 35 million But of that we receive state revenue that is almost 24 million dollars And that comes not only from the state but but other areas our tax levy is just around 12 million for the department I didn't mean to Really do have a large share of it. The other thing I think people don't realize is because we determine eligibility for food stamps and medical assistance Individuals who are determined eligible receive What's now a card? It's not even food stamps anymore in terms of a stamp that you turn in or a medical assistance card That generates 30 million dollars worth the revenue for the county annually just in terms of medical assistance going into Individuals who would see their community health care provider money going into the health care centers or private nursing that's not money That's directly in your budget. That's not in our budget, but it's revenue. That's brought into the county you mentioned earlier in the public health area that you have this new program for Restaurant and hotel inspections. Did you just describe seeing it is a new service or a new program if you could describe that a little bit Well, I even went out with the restaurant inspector during the county fair time just to see what happened But in talking to Dale and Bruce Cress who is our restaurant inspector since June of this year They've already completed 284 inspections and that includes restaurants pools camps vending machines and also temporary services The Mung Festival the Hispanic fast broad days all those require an inspection also The real key when I've talked to Bruce is education. We're not there to cite Festivals or to cite restaurants that type of thing. We want to work with them The real key that I found out at the county fair is hand-washing So many people fail to realize that you need to wash your hands on a frequent basis And probably the biggest violation is not having a sink close enough to where you have your food preparation area That people have adequate access to the hand-washing facilities He's also done some training sessions and continues to do that in terms of Temporary event people coming in to get a couple hours worth of training and we try to do that in group work But the response has been very very positive to that program and prior to this program. There wasn't a lot of Inspections being done on a regular basis The number of inspections done by the state was significantly less than what we're able to provide and the key component That was missing was that educational component So we're seeing in a real improvement. The other nice thing is when a new restaurant is opening up They're working with Bruce so when they're designing the building he can review the construction plans It makes a big difference. We can prevent some problems from occurring right up front So hopefully as we as we go to the restaurants and and the eating establishments throughout the county We should feel a little more comfortable that were Definitely more comfortable that at least their inspections going on one of the other things that Again related to the same health department That we've seen in the news a lot lately since Since the terrorist attacks and and the problem of anthrax What is your department's involvement with that locally? Okay? One of the key things I want to point out as many times they say call your public health department If you have a suspicious package, you really need to contact your law enforcement agency first And we coordinate with law enforcement in terms of if they determine that it's a legitimate threat We will work closely with them in terms of contacting the state department so that we can have the appropriate testing done We had a very active role even prior to September 11th in terms of some tabletop exercise planning for Bioterrorism and public health definitely any health hazard that would come about Even if it's not through a bioterrorism would be something that we become involved in doing an assessment A good example is a foodborne outbreak. We have public health staff that would interview people work with the testing Do follow-up and assess and try to locate the cause of that So our role is more looking at the health aspects whether it's bioterrorism or anything else and working closely with our local law enforcement And has Matt team So if there's an initial concern on an item or something in that regard the first cause should be to law enforcement Correct and then they can right if they just have a question regarding You know, what are the symptoms we would be able to provide information regarding that But if it's actually a letter or package that came law enforcement is a person's first step Thank you And maybe in a more general term now you could just Tell us about some of the challenges that you and your department face I'd like to tell you money because it's always money and it is and that is a key issue But it's it's something that we've worked diligently to look at Not division by division but as an overall department And we're we're trying to do that Our concern right now is the economy is on a decline and of course whenever that occurs There's a greater need for our service. I was talking to Emily Atomovich who works in public health yesterday And they've seen an increase in people coming in to seek services in terms of immunizations and The wick program the women infant and children and we see that throughout the department whenever we have that And of course, that's the time when money is least available um We also Really have a problem in the state providing mandates to the county Especially our department and then not providing the funding and one example that we've worked diligently with the state legislators on Is the increase in correctional costs? It's going up 14 percent in the state budget over the biennium That means about a hundred thousand dollars annually cost increase to sheboygan county at the same time They're giving us about seven to ten thousand dollars to offset that thousand dollars So that means we need to really make good decisions on what we cut back on because we can't ask for extra money So that's another one cultural competency We have a diverse population throughout sheboygan county And recruiting and and obtaining staff that can not only deal with language issues But take it within the context of a culture becomes very very important for our department Especially when you're looking at child protective services issues. You need to put that in a cultural context um real need For the county and i'm not talking county government, but i'm talking agencies and companies and the private sector To become involved in prevention efforts, whether it be through employee assistance programs or whatever Those are the services that we always cut back on when financial times get tight And whenever you cut back on that you run the risk of two three five ten years down the road Seeing an increase in numbers because you're not able to do that So we definitely try to work with the private sector in terms of let us work with You know people who truly need government provided services and try to focus their efforts more on the prevention early intervention um Lastly, uh, we're always looking for volunteers For volunteers to supervise visits drivers foster parents Um, we really need the community support and community knowledge of what we do. I think there's a real lack of understanding out there Well the temperatures are quickly dropping and the holiday seasons upon us I'm living proof that the the cold and flu season is also here What are some of the special programs that the the department is administering this time of year? Okay The key one I want to talk about and it's been in the shabuagan press because it is a cooperative effort between the shabuagan press And division on aging is share the spirit And that particular program is for people who are elderly or have developmental disabilities They can be residing in the community or in a nursing home And in november judy leinzi who coordinates that program gets letters out throughout the county People submit names along with ideas of what someone would like and I called judy yesterday and said can you give me an example? She said oh, there's so many here that she's sorting through she couldn't But it can be anything from a pair of slippers that someone requests All the way up to televisions. I've seen sometimes it's a need for a person that they would like to get out to a beauty shop Or have that paid for within the healthcare facility where petitions come in So we work closely with them in matching that And the other nice thing about it is you don't need to actually Pick a person and say you will do that for them We can take a monetary contribution and then when we have enough money We can actually do that on behalf of whoever does that donation and purchase that Although that program is primarily a christmas seasonal program There have been times especially during the summer when it becomes very very hot That we have elderly people in need of air conditioning And judy has been able to purchase that when there is a real medical need for that person to have it Last year it was about seven thousand dollars that was raised for that program and Truly shows how sheboyton county residents do support that And we appreciate their efforts also And there's also a number of other programs. Could you touch on a couple of other? You're right christmas is upon us We run through our volunteer services person pat priggie Along with the help of sue kufas and sandy wagner. We accept donations There are certain people that for some reason truly want to give to families our department serves And want to make sure that's where it goes We have organizations We have individuals families who actually donate food toys clothing And then what we do is the workers can come up and select a limited amount So that if they have a family with five children who's part of our system It might be one or two toys for each of the children or a toy in a piece of clothing And then we also try to do the food baskets We had 37 food baskets that were distributed at Thanksgiving And right now we only have um two baskets donated for christmas. So that's going to be a definite need And those are all done through local groups the jc's ebony ebony's or church One of the local bargaining groups 24 27 And then pat lives out in the hunter glenn subdivision and for some reason they've taken us as their pet project And throughout the holiday season they do little rounds in the subdivision and come up with donations for our families So um, we've been very very thankful for that If anybody is interested and I have to look down to get the phone number correctly Pat pre can be contacted at 459-4047 And if you're willing to donate or become involved in any of our volunteer efforts pat is the person to contact Now she only does volunteer work part-time. She does social work the other part of the time As part of our budget Conservative or conserving our budget efforts, but she'd be more than willing to work With any group that would be interested in doing that. I'll stand. Why don't you repeat that number? Okay pat's number again 459-4047 And with the cold weather what other programs become paramount this time of year, you know adam you and I talked about this Yesterday i'm going to look at my notes because they change the terms for our programs so often that I want to make sure I do this correctly Through the economic support unit we have the wisconsin home energy assistance program And that is a program to help low-income people with their energy costs Program starts in october of every year runs through may And um when you get your um energy bill you'll usually you see a little line item on there and and that little Kind of a couple cents that goes every month off your energy bill goes to fund this program Statewide what happened is last year the number of people needing that assistance increased more than they had anticipated So they have the same amount of money available this year and I just found out this morning A little additional money came from the feds. Fortunately last year the average grant given to a household Was 472 dollars And that's a one time. It's not monthly. It's just a one time payment This year they're projecting the average to be 372 dollars So it's about a hundred dollar reduction This is just people who are elderly who are on fixed incomes as well as families The nice feature of that program is when people come in and they're determined to be eligible If their energy bill seems high for the type of home or apartment What we take a look at is referring them to partners in terms of an energy assessment and working on Are they eligible for some home improvements to assist with energy conservation? If anybody out there is interested in that program I have a phone number along for that one also And they would call the job center directly and we send out an application in many cases They may not even need to come in in some cases. They will need to come in to call to get an application You call 208 5946 And i'll do that one more time 208 5946 We're covering some important programs for this time of the year One of the things folks have heard about and I know you've encouraged me to do is get my flu shot Absolutely Is the department geared up for flu shots and if so, where do people go? Okay For county employees, you come to the public health department on third floor and we will make sure you get the square needle Adam we've already decided that appreciate that when you finally get in And I thought I thought the nurse was waiting in the laser to administer it. That's about it We had talked about that but because adam is showing the signs of having a cold It's not good for him to get that until he's gotten over those symptoms, but It's painless. I had mine the other day and it went quite well Anybody else would go to one of the flu sites The home health care agencies are running those throughout the county If we were doing that we would charge the same rate as they're charging So they are much more accessible to the general public For people that are in a higher risk condition public health is also recommending they get the pneumonia shot And they gave me the medical term but just go with pneumonia shot. That's what people should get It is important again. There at least are three cases statewide I'm not the medical expert, but the nurses said that The strain this year is pretty serious and it's a good idea to get that flu shot The papers have been published in that schedule And if you really need to know one of the dates or times you can call That four five nine six four hundred number and Ask for public health and they can even give you the schedule over the phone Now thus far our viewers have gotten a lot of information one of the large the largest county department Approximately 200 staff. We've only touched on a handful of the programs. There's so much going on Touching 25 30 percent of the constituents in Sheboygan county on an annual basis How can people get involved to help the department to reach out and help their fellow neighbor? I remember giving a presentation about a year ago at this time and I said one of the things is All of us come in contact with children Through our own families through neighbors through our volunteer work The key to me is children need a mentor a positive role model Um, it's easy to identify at-risk children I think any one of us see it when my children were younger It was easy to spot those children coming to visit that there were some Behaviors that indicated that they they needed something So the key you can do in your own personal life out there is mentor a child that you believe could use some support Do that on your own time in terms of our actual department Volunteer drivers. We need volunteers to supervise visits Foster parents adult family home providers And if anybody is interested in any of that we have staff available to talk to you about what that means Maybe you are in a community group and you would like one of our staff to come and present More information about a specific aspect of our our department and we'd be happy to do that also Outstanding and thank you. Thank you And you've been with the county for 20 years. Yes, I have You've been director for it's almost six months now. It's almost your sixth month anniversary Maybe with a couple minutes that we have left you could just Fill us in on some of the goals that you have for the future and some of the things you like to accomplish in the department Getting my house decorated for Christmas would be nice, but I know that's not what you're asking There are many many things going on in terms of the department The real positive aspect that I have found is the energy and enthusiasm of the staff Based on our budget experience I have challenged them to participate in a strategic planning process beginning in February So we can better prepare for next year's budget process Looking at how we can better coordinate services within our own department and also with community agencies After nine years, we are finally going to be implementing wassakwas the wisconsin statewide child welfare information system and marty bonk has definitely been challenged with that and I've been working with him on that As you're aware, we're working closely with the health care centers on the imd designation and building capacity to Serve people in a different way and we'll coordinate that until the relocation of comprehensive residents to the rocky null center And one last thing that I want to do while you're both here Is we received these as a donation. We have 200 copies It's christmas favorites non-alcoholic drinks and its compliments of our department and encompass Encompass paid for the printing. We have these available At our job center location at our department and I have a copy for each of you In terms of preparing for the holiday season And it's nice to know that this was not done with that's correct. It was taxpayers funding a good example of private Public sector partnership, and that's what we really are trying to work towards And it's one of my primary goals We've done that in social services over the years with friendship house hard side Shelter care and land some of our group care facilities for children And in fact steve hailing from friendship house when we were working on the budget Submitted his original budget and they went back to review it And found that they could save some money and called me up and he said and you can take I can't remember It was like $5,000 that we won't need we've been able to do some re-arranging So we do try to work with people in the community in terms of how we can best manage the money great Well, thank you, Anne. Thank you both. We we crammed a lot of information into this half hour But I think it's beneficial and and good for the community to know what your department's doing next month We're running out of departments. We've been doing this show for almost two years now We're running out of departments, but next month we're going to have terry burk our family court commissioner with us And he's going to explain a little bit about The work that he does in that department and and the intake court and those types of things So so next month I look forward to terry burk and and we thank our viewers for listening