##VIDEO ID:iBnZ2SfkcqQ## are we all right um good morning everyone I'd like to call this meeting of the Cook County Public Health Human Services Board um to order on this Tuesday September 17th at 8:31 a.m. uh first item is the approval of the consent agenda which includes our meeting agenda minutes financial report abstracts and bills and um the hire of uh uh position for the coordinated crisis response worker also there is an amendment to our um agenda under staff report we have Martina Johnson here um with the Boreal Partners Transit so I'd like to add that to the agenda is there anything any other changes to the agenda or um any items from the consent someone would like to pull and discuss Mr chair I'd uh make a motion to approve the consent agenda as amended thank you commissioner svin we have a motion is there support I'll support that commissioner white we have a motion support any further discussion hearing or seeing none all in favor I opposed motion passes unanimously thank you well that moves us right on down to you Martina thanks for being here this morning thanks for having me good morning good morning I am here to talk with you today about Boreal Partners Transit I've come before you a couple times now um with some requests in regards to the project but I've not had an opportunity to give a full uh presentation on what it is so I wanted to do that today so I am Martina Johnson I'm the adult and Home and Community Based Services Supervisor with Cook County Public Health and Human Services I am one of three social services supervisors within Cook County phhs I supervise the adult and Home and Community Based Services team we serve primarily adults we have a large population of clients who are 65 and older U but we also have some children on our case loads so my team consists of five case managers one case Aid and myself my degree I have a Bachelor of Arts and social work from the University of Wisconsin Madison and I started with Cook County in January 200 7 as an adult Services adult mental health case manager and was promoted to Supervisor in 2015 so I'm not quite sure when this idea oops not quite sure when this idea was hatched it was so long ago that I can't remember um who thought of it if it was me if it was just based on a collaboration with others it's just been something that that I have been thinking about for a long time and have wanted to try to implement in Cook County uh through my work as a case manager I learned of the difficulties many residents across the county experience in accessing Transportation especially those who live outside of the the bus routes that are provided by Arrowhead Transit are persons who are living very rurally and um those that have Mobility needs in County based social work uh when we encounter a problem we are often tasks with tasked with finding a solution so in my years of working with Cook County I have been a part of several audits they happen um for our programs that we um coordinate they happen quite regularly um we have some audits that are annually and some audits that are every four to 5 years one of the things that they often say when they come to see us is we notice that you don't have this service and in Cook County there's quite a lot of services that we don't have right here and they say what are you going to do about it and uh that's a big question because first and foremost I uh am a supervisor and I have a team that I'm um trying to support and we have many programs that we are working to implement um um and many clients but it's always kind of there in the back of your mind like what am I going to do about this problem that we have and how can I be a part of the solution so um my first attempt at applying for a grant to purchase a van because that's the big cost here is the actual vehicle that we're using for the service um I applied for a live well at home Grant in 2021 and my uh application was not selected so then I applied again in 2023 and that application was successful so the problem that we are facing in Cook County I think you all are aware of this but um just to give a summary uh our county has roughly 5,600 residence over 1,453 square miles to access care above and beyond Primary Care residents need to travel to duth which is the nearest healthc care Hub the sole public transit option Arrowhead Transit serves the highway 61 corridor from schroer to Grand Portage as well as a 5 mile radius of grand marray hours are limited and rides to duth are limited to once per week with a set schedule that makes several stops away they're a for-profit model so they have to provide service in a way that's going to um be profitable for them so it's understandable that um their routes are limited and their hours are limited while Arrowhead Transit does have an ADA Compliant bus it only serves those along its route volunteer drivers that serve the remainder of the county currently use their own Vehicles which limits their ability to serve residents with mobility issues specialized Transportation providers outside of Cook County who serve our region are reluctant to take on transports for our residents as it takes a driver and a shuttle off the road for an entire day which isn't always feasible for their companies so our solution is a standard size ADA Compliant van that can be driven by anyone you don't need a special license to drive it it's owned and operated by Cook County and added to the county Fleet which results in a more manageable uh more manageable insurance and maintenance costs there's greater flexibility in hours of operation we are not held to a set schedule we can uh try to meet the need if we have a driver available when the need is occurring so that could be at night or on weekends we're able to serve a larger geographic area one of the things that was important to those of us that were planning this project was to have a vehicle that could get down uh roads that might not be plowed the greatest or um steep driveways places that it would be difficult for a bus to get we're hopeful that our van is able to get those places with some good snow tires and those coordinating the rides are located locally so when somebody is calling in we live here we know the area we know um probably the general area that they live in um other options they have a call center that's located in Virginia I believe but here you're getting someone um that is based in Cook County so we're also um using volunteer driver uh programs that are already established in the county so we are partnering I'll talk more later about our partners um but we are partnering with Cook County Care Partners of Cook County and also the inhome support program so we're just kind of um working with existing models why uh does this matter um as we know our local population is aging compared to the state of Minnesota and the Northland region Cook County has a higher percentage of people aged 65 and older at 28.5% and between 2020 and 2030 this population is projected to continue to grow in Cook County as people age the likelihood of developing a cro chronic illness increases and chronic conditions can affect an individual's ability to drive and often increase the need to access healthc care services in recent years um it's been longer than recent it's it's been a while now since the pandemic um ancillary providers such as opthamologists and audiologists have dis discontinued providing services in Cook County which results in the need for our residents to travel greater distances to meet their healthare needs and when we talk about who we're serving we are serving um parents grandparents Aunts Uncles siblings neighbors friends and Community just in general community members these are people who want to age in place and remain in their homes for as long as possible when people are young and more able-bodied and building their lives in real Cook County they are likely not thinking about the day far off into the future hopefully um where their home in a quiet setting might result in a barrier to them being able to meet their needs they all deserve the right to access safe and Mobility accessible Transportation no matter where they choose to live getting back into the Partnerships and collaboration I am a member of the Aging Coalition that's been meeting for I want to say five or six years now um also Care Partners of Cook County when I first applied for the livewell at home Grant the director was K grenland and she was extremely supportive in this endeavor and um as is the current D director Julie Wilson um very supportive and kind of like a cheerleader to say let's keep this going let's do this we really need this um also the nor Northshore healthc Care Foundation has been a supporter of this project we have a month adult care adult protection team and that includes Northshore Health Sawtooth Mountain Clinic Grand Portage health services Grand Portage human services Grand Portage & and other uh Community providers that uh have provided input for this project and who I'm updating regularly um also my team at Public Health and Human Services they are um the people that are serving our clients they are really into tune with the needs and are able to give me great ideas and and help guide this project in the right direction and I'm also part of a regional transportation coordinating Council Minnesota has several of these throughout the state uh these councils are charged with improving Transportation options in their areas and so that's been a nice um Council to be a part of I have gotten a lot of great ideas and U made aware of grants that are available funding um so our 2023 liel at home grant that went towards the purchase of the van that we use for this um service and that was a total of 39,380 2023 and 2024 Northshore Healthcare Foundation grants I was able to get a total of um 12,650 and then mindat moving Greater Minnesota forward is a grant that I've um applied for and was selected to be a part of their first ever um rural Mobility cohort so that took place last fall 2023 and then I um have been selected to receive Grant funds for the phase 2 project which is a span of 2 years uh I didn't apply for a large amount of funds I just I'm trying to keep this manageable at this point because again I have a regular day job uh but the grant funds for that are 42456 for the two years and we're using those funds to um provide this service for free at this point to people that are looking for a ride so what is next for us you'll see there in the picture that is our van that's me and my co-workers Laura Nelson who has also been very integral in this project she is our former inhome Support Program Coordinator and now she's a um Adult Services social worker case manager um and then Adam Maxwell is driving the van this is um a picture taken at the fisherman's picnic parade um so we are uh looking at building our volunteer base we need drivers we have some expressed interest so we are looking to gather those drivers and um do a training so that we can get them ready to go we are also using Grant funds to create a website for the project do some advertising we really need to get the word out there about this program so that people know it's available we're also down the road looking at developing scheduling software so that as this gets up and running um and there's a more more use of it it's not going to require our staff to schedule the rides people can um schedule them through this software so that's a quick overview of the program um we're just really I'm excited that it's at this point we have a vehicle it's insured we have um policies and procedures a handbook for the program we've got the partners on board and um the excitement about the project so it's just putting it into implementing implementing it at this point so that is where we're at thank you is so is it is it is it time to start pushing is that you're ready to do it awesome well we we need drivers first so we wanting to get the drivers on board um and then yes we're going to be really getting the word out there that we have this service yeah I can I can imagine a tagline like we go where Arrowhead Transit won't or something trying to be respectful yeah absolutely yeah well there's limitations yes it's fact maybe yes it could be more tactful I suppose uh Frank you have a question yeah and a couple number one uh how will people access request to ride so currently we will have people call into Public Health and Human Services um they can either call our front desk which is 218 387 3020 or they can call directly to Ariel charlier she's our new inhome support coordinator and her number is 218 387 3629 okay and we're not that's not public yet that's not put out we did put that in our um we had a article in the paper on Friday and um The News Herald and those that number was in there so missed the article uh okay so just so I clarify uh I live up up the trail Gunflint lake 50 miles from here um somebody up there needs to come into the clinic on Wednesday at 2 they can call that number and if the schedule permitting they can get an appointment yes so the okay someone at Gunflint lake wants to go to the Grand Portage casino that is not on our um on our service venue yet but that's what we want to move towards because we also understand there's a piece of um health is obviously Mental Health and Social isolation is something that people are exper Ing and so as we have more drivers and get this moving um our first priority is the medical appointments um but we do want to move towards socialization so but for now it's only medical appointment correct yes something you might want to add in uh at some point is package delivery in other words not ups but somebody wants to place an order from the co-op or Johnson's or IG it could be picked up and dropped off hopefully in coordination with some other other other rides going on MH yeah that's a great idea going up the trail for something probably probably too hard to schedule and the final comment was um rather than developing your own scheduling software there's a lot of good scheduling software uh off the-shelf stuff that could be adapted much more cost effectively than trying to develop it yourself yes we we won't be developing I'm sorry if I misspoke but we'll we'll be using something that's already developed we just need to get plugged in find something within our budget and set up very very happy to hear about this yeah is that your hand James please go ahead thank you Mr chair uh great presentation Martina and really glad that we're doing this uh quick question in terms of uh kind of investigating the driving history of volunteer drivers um what what kinds of things would cause us to say no thanks we we can't use you yeah that's a good question we um are running what's called a net study background study on all of our drivers and that should catch the driving history um pieces um we also ensure that the drivers have a valid driver's license and their own um insurance that they possess those things um I don't know that other volunteer programs do a deeper dive into the driving history but I feel like that net study is really comprehensive in terms of any charges or um convictions I should say would something like speeding tickets preclude somebody from being able to drive for us or I don't think so I don't know I don't think so I'll look into that thanks any other questions comments thoughts brainstorms so currently free I I caught the currently part and that's largely for the two-year Grant of total of around 4 ,000 some dollars yes um I'd be surprised if that's going to cover it depending on the the use but step by step here and we'll get a much better sense so is is the kind of Hope depending on what we demonstrate that there might be other opportunities for funding after this two years and um otherwise we'll also have a better read on what it is actually costing too right yeah one of the things that we talked about the group so um Julie Wilson and I and uh Min minda and and who um is an employee of Care Partners and Laura in our planning for this program we talked about are we going to have the drivers be reimbursed or are we going to have this uh done on a volunteer driver basis we're starting with this model because we know how it works it's already existing um there are people that do like to drive and don't necessarily want to be um reimbursed for that but that our model might change if we find that we're not recruiting drivers and we need to provide some incentive to drive then we will look into that and might need to tap into some different resources so it's um definitely not set in stone this is we're just um using this model for now but in the future we might even um need to charge a little bit for people to use the service yeah yeah I'm happy that it's a a developing um scenario um and it could be a both and there could be some people that need to be reimbursed or some people that don't need to be reimbursed and and then again there could be a fee structure depending on various factors and yeah there's all different ways to go I'm sorry Frank you no I assume the van is going to be based like here yes so a volunteer driver would have to come here I just think of it like again my area is up the have to drive an hour pick up the van go pick up somebody driving yes and then get the van back okay the nice thing with Care Partners is people are using their own Vehicles so if there is a volunteer um up the trail they are local and they could do those rides but um yes if there's a Mobility need um someone in a wheelchair that needs that vehicle needs our vehicle um they would have to drive down and pick up the vehicle and and scheduling with Care Partners um same phone number uh care Partners is a different number I can look that up real quick that's okay I saw one of their Flyers the grocery store the other day Okay um thank you yes commiss stle thank you um just age verification is it 65 and older currently it is again that's where we're at right now but that has a potential to change in the future and how many people could the van accommodate in a in a run so it is set up to take two wheel chairs in the back at a at one time and then there's a seat in the there's a passenger seat in the front um but also in the back we have seating bench chairs that fold down let me the store away is that the yeah they they're like they're typically up but they fold down and they are seats so if um we had one wheelchair in the back we could um fold those two seats down and transport five four people passenger and then the two um seats and then the wheelchair oh okay good thanks if there I'm sorry please if there are two two people with wheelchairs and they have two caregivers would that I mean if if you have more than one passenger could you do that or we probably could not um because those seats in the back can't be folded down if there's a wheelchair in that front area you can see in the third picture down that the um that seat is folded down that's one place where we can tie in a wheelchair and then there's a space behind it so we wouldn't be able to transport two caregivers um with two wheelchairs presumably a front seat and possibly the driver would be available to push the wheelchair y all right well thank you very much uh any last questions all right well thanks for the update and keep us posted and very exciting program thank you that moves us down to our um director's report and um first thing is the staff updates Alison before I jump into the staff update have to start with a recognition of Martina for all of your tireless efforts your leaders ship on this project it's been a really big Initiative for you to focus on in the midst of all of the other priorities that you have as a part of your work as a supervisor and providing case management support during staff transitions so just want to Echo the gratitude for you and your work to create this new resource for our community it's really huge thank you thank you all right good morning Commissioners uh we have a updated organizational chart included in the agenda packet as always we'll summarize a few uh changes since our last meeting in August as Martina mentioned in her presentation Ariel charlier has transitioned from her role as an eligibility specialist with our economic assistance and healthc Care team into that inhome support coordinator and Adult Services case manager role within the adult and Homeland community Based Services team that of course created a vacancy within our economic assistance team for which we are currently recruiting we have interviews scheduled this week to backfill that eligibility specialist position we are excited to welcome Betsy blazel next Monday the 23rd as our office support caseid position uh this is the uh second in line in terms of that uh front office window and any calls that are coming into our office um Betsy will be that primary backup to Leanne at the front desk for reception and also do some specialized tasks in support of our economic assistance team so some data entry uh actually determining eligibility for some programs uh that are appropriate within the scope of her job description so really excited for Betsy to come on board and have a fully staffed front office team once again on the consent agenda this morning you accepted the hire of David ritmo as our coordinated crisis response worker uh this is huge we've had this position vacant since May of 2023 uh John speaker our Behavioral Health supervisor Andrea orist who's a member of our Public Health Team have done uh immense amount of work over the last year and a half to continue the momentum on that pilot program while the position was vacant but we're very excited to have someone coming on board in that position David uh visited Cook County in August and met with staff and partners he is relocating from outside of the area so is looking for housing um and we're working on some creative problem solving to be able to get David started on some of his onboarding and training while he's looking at securing housing within the community as there's quite a bit of mandated systems training that he would need to do before really getting started in that role providing direct service we are targeting a late September early October start date for him again contingent on finding housing we uh reposted the Children's Mental Health case manager position this is backfilling the vacancy created by Marissa Chapman's transition to the developmental disability and Community Access for disability inclusion waiver case management on the adult and homeand Community Based Services team uh we have had to repost that several several times and we've also had two offers declined for that position so this is informing my recommendation under items for board action to also explore some temporary employment arrangements as we're seeing really significant case load and complexity uh with the children that are being served through Children's Mental Health case management so I'll go into greater detail on that request once we get to items for board action in our um posting I asked that our HR team include language that were open to Temporary and part-time placements as well so that we can really widen the net in terms of folks locally or even outside of the community that might be interested in either a temporary part-time or full-time permanent position we interviewed last week for the children and family services supervisor position and are very excited to have extended an offer and had that offer accepted uh anticipate bringing a higher recommendation before the regular board at the September 24th meeting once we're able to do some internal communication around that hire um we are also interviewing for the children and family services case manager that is that new full-time equivalent position that this board authorized at our August meeting we have several candidates to consider for that position as well that leaves us with three unfilled vacancies at present including the anti not including the anticipated vacancy for our children and family services supervisor we are also proposing a part-time fully Grant funded position for 2025 that is included in the Department of Human Services mobile crisis response Grant application that we submitted last month this would be a mental health worker who would be embedded within the gr Portage Human Services team to provide uh relief to their team who are doing quite a bit of crisis response and dedicated support to the gr Portage Community this is someone who would work alongside our full-time mobile crisis response provider who serves all of Cook County including grah Portage um but is a part of our strategy to ensure Staffing coverage throughout our large geographic area we will not be recruiting for that position until we have Grant notification from the state that those funds are secured any questions about my staff updates before I move on to my department report doesn't look like it on the consent agenda were the financial report for uh through August year to date uh thank you to plumen for including a helpful summary in terms of where we're at and where we expect to be at this point plumet identified a few areas that are um over budget including Children and Family Services where we are we are at 125% of our budget um the items under this category that are are putting us over budget are fars PE off and Adolescent life skills these are all preventative Family Services funding streams that we able to uh Target families in need and provide support to prevent out of home placement um every else is related to child protection at 146% uh for out of home placement costs we are at 135% year-to date uh we are uh seeing a lesser amount expended in August when compared to the previous 6month average and even less than in the month of July so expect this to continue to Trend downward or level out through the end of the month um in terms of Revenue we received a $116,000 Northstar foster care payment in July um labeled for quarter 4 2023 which brought our Revenue up for out of home placements to 117% of the budget for this year even though that was for last year because it was received at this point we've done all of our quarterly and year-end reporting that will be 2024 Revenue uh the financial report also includes the first tax distribution of the year which was received in May and all other expenditures are in line We are continuing to work on the development and refining of our 2025 Department budget uh as we receive updated expense and revenue information um things like position changes internal promotions filling vacancies all Impact our Personnel budget as we're using actual step uh and wage information in our budget for 2025 job description review is also having an impact on our projections for 2025 as well as the new information on insurance premiums the CCA contract negotiations all Impact our department budget as well as our Revenue as we're reporting expenses to the state and receiving reimbursement from the state and federal government for those uh staff expense uh the biggest potential change in our expense and revenue is the Department of Human Services mobile crisis Grant application as that will both increase the expenses for our department and increase the revenues alongside that any new expense included in that mobile crisis response Grant will be fully funded through the grant uh other major initiatives for our department is implementation of caseworks the electronic document management system for economic assistance Healthcare and Social Services programs training is underway this week for all of our economic assistance and healthc Care staff with go live next week in the new program uh we're having to do quite a bit of upfront work for our social services team as we have not had an electronic document management system in place to date we've been using paper files and a variety of uh electronic file systems that are not true workflow systems so we're having to do a lot of work to Define our business processes who has access to what documents in uring that all of the unit Department naming within Social Services information system the state mandated documentation and Reporting System is in alignment with case works so grateful to be going through this as a region so that we can lean on some of our other peer counties to uh see how they're planning for this major shift go live for social services is the week of October 21st so coming up uh the mobile crisis program development is another major initiative policy um development is one of the components uh that we need to have in place before becoming certified thankfully we have a number of other DHS licensed programs that we're providing the inhome support program the uh Wilderness outpatient substance use treatment program so we have been able to modify some of those program policies in place for other DHS licensed program in preparation for providing the mobile crisis Services we are also working with a number of different vendors to um determine what electronic medical record system is going to best suit the program and that's also something that we need to have in place to be in compliance with the state to provide mobile crisis Services again I'll say more about that under items for board action have to share some good news along all of the other staff Transitions and major projects that are underway we received just this morning a certificate from the Department of Human Services that in quarter two of this year Cook County met snap that's the supplemental nutrition assistance program uh expedited so that is for individuals who qualify for receiving their benefits right away based on having either limited income or a combination of limited income and high uh housing and utility expenses um that our staff met processing standards both for those emergency expedited applications and other uh 30-day processing standards so any other application that does not meet those expedited criteria is required to be processed with Benefits issued within 30 days our staff uh met or exceeded that 95% threshold uh set by the state so that means over 95% of Cook County residents when when they apply for SNAP are receiving those benefits within the state mandated time frames so kudos to our economic assistance and front office team um also in the last month our Public Health Team um Andrea Oris TR really leading the charge here has put in place harm reduction cabinets in each of the four restrooms in the Cook County Courthouse you heard a presentation at our meeting last month from Andrea as well as Brenda Port about our harm reduction initiatives both as a department and in partnership with other organizations in the community uh this is an effort to increase access to these materials as you might remember they started out at our front desk then we had a cabinet in the lobby now they're in the bathroom and this is a part of continual Improvement efforts to increase access to these supplies throughout the community uh we have a number of Staff supporting events in gr Portage this weekend including a Bike Rodeo and some suicide awareness of so the team will be Staffing a resource table um at that event as well that's what I have to summarize the work of our department in the last month happy to take any questions before I move into items for board action one or two things e just just a bit yeah good work it's incredible busy team busy time of year uh questions let's move on to items for board action all right so first up uh before you today is a request item 5A to approve a contract with temp social work which is the name of the organization for the placement of a temporary social worker uh I met with uh individual the the director of the temp social work agency earlier this summer to learn more about the services they provide um this is a Minnesota based program that can assist with placement across a range of settings including hospitals counties Mental Health Providers uh their mission is to fill short-term gaps so typically if someone is um on a family leave or there's a a transition in between positions their goal is to um support providers whether they be tribal agencies hospitals or otherwise with maintaining Service delivery during those staff transitions um as I reported under the staff report uh we have had a vacancy on the children's mental health Team since early July we have done multiple rounds of interviews we have extended job offers um two candidates have declined offers uh we have reposted the position and our continuing to look for a permanent full-time placement but again are hoping to cast as wide a net as possible um the team is really in in need of immediate Staffing support to meet the needs of CH current children currently receiving Case Management Services to be able to respond to any new referrals we might receive and provide relief for staff who are currently far exceeding State recommended case loads for children's mental health case management and staff who are working outside the scope of their current job responsibilities currently we have adult mental health case management staff we have our supervisor all working to support our one Children's Mental Health case manager in balancing their case load the purpose of this request is to temporarily fill a vacancy on the behavioral health Team while continuing to recruit for a permanent hire and to enter into a contract agreement for a case manager with experience in children's mental health and Child Protection who can provide support for 6 to 12 months to both teams uh one of the benefits of this organization is that they have attempt to hire program where we could work with someone on a temporary placement and they could go through the Merit system and County processes for a formal Recruitment and hiring process and be permanently placed into a position um some of the rationale behind this request the Department of Human Services recommends that the average case load for a full-time equivalent children's mental health targeted case management case manager be 15 clients as of July 20124 there are 29 open Children's Mental Health work groups in Cook County as we added a second Children's Mental Health case manager within the team we are able to provide support to more families and children needing children's mental health support as that position turned over we're having to manage that case load of 29 across a number of different staff not provid the level of service that we would like to to these families uh as I said earlier the current case load is distributed across one Children's Mental Health case manager the supervisor and adult case management staff we have extended multiple offers and are are looking for that immediate support to the children served and to our team I shared the contract with County attorney hickin for her review to ensure that she doesn't have any concerns with that and pending any feedback or comments from Molly uh my intent is to start working with this agency immediately on placement of a temporary social worker knowing that it could take time for any temporary worker to be able to find short-term housing in the community we're also reaching out to individuals in the community who we know have case management or County work or ssis experience to see if they'd be interested in a temporary placement as well so again casting as widenet as possible hopeful that those offers that we had made would be accepted by this point but we're having to get creative do do you have any feedback on the on the offers uh and why they were declined of the two individuals that we interviewed both uh cited that they just weren't ready for the the transition of of moving to a new community they were people from outside of County who interviewed although they were interested in the position the timing wasn't right for personal reasons or they just weren't prepared to relocate so we're hopeful to stay engaged with these candidates perhaps the timing will be right down the road um and they could consider other opportunities with the Department thank you um yeah this this is not ideal by any means but I really appreciate you looking for some solutions even if they're if they're temporary of course continuative care is something that's always on our minds but um some temp is better than no no help especially with the cas loads that we're we're facing so thank you for looking for Solutions and casting that broader net absolutely thank you commissioner and I should add that these are are individuals who have experience doing case management in Cook County so they would be able to jump pretty quickly into a role with our agency commissioner uh is there a time limit on how long a temp will stay on a particular in a particular position I know that you said what the contract length was but can we monopolize a person for 6 months or is it like three weeks or or just until you get it we get it filled so there the the organization that were proposing Contracting with um focuses on short-term placement although they do that have have that temp to program our intent is to look for someone who is willing to provide 6 to 12 months of support our County employee handbook defines a temporary employee as a six-month placement but we do have the opportunity to to renew that placement thanks any other questions Frank please um just roughly what's the difference in cost between a attemp contract versus a nfte that's a great question 25% thank you from the hip if I remember correctly the rate is $55 to $61 an hour in the contract um for a social worker um we have um wage Frameworks that we've used in the past for bringing on temporary case managers it's been quite some time since we've had to bring on a temporary case manager so that wage has varied based on that individual's experience you're right but but for a new FTE not temporary but but a new hire a new hire so including Fring and benefits that's a good question I don't know that I can answer that off the top of my head okay in terms of what that hourly breakdown is including French yeah there's not any available so you're doing the best you can with what you with what is available and I think I I AG that it's great that you're able to do that at all yeah this is definitely more expensive to be clear by I'm guessing 25 to 30% but again that's from the hips so what do I know um would you say there's okay when you when you when you reach your your your maximum case load do you turn away clients or do you just accept everybody who needs it what do you actually what happens we have't ever had to turn away someone um who has requested services or referrals made by a a partner agency we might not be able to be as timely in responding to that uh referral or provide the level of service or frequency of contact that we would like to based on our practice standards and and history um so we haven't gotten to that point I would like to avoid that at all costs yeah um thank you but yes and the entry wage for a social worker this is just um hourly wage not Fringe is $30.7 so that's step one on our 2024 wage scale we never higher so up to twice as much for a temporary placement but again we're looking at experienced social workers would be able to go right into the work and not go through a lengthy onboarding and training process that would be expected of someone coming in at a step one all right as commissioner Johnson waiting to see if other people could ask some of these but um I have a question about will this person be based here in Cook County or will they be traveling every day for work ideally this person would be based in Cook County so that they could be integrated within the team and be a part of visiting clients who are located in Cook County we do have people that we serve who are play outside of the county and in foster care or residential setting so there may be opportunity to work with someone who is located out of duth two Harbor Silver Bay we have permanent staff who are recruiting or um who are commuting from that distance already um ideally we would have someone here in Cook County but would be open to folks in the region who would either be traveling or able to see people who are outside of the county okay so if that person has is residing well either way will they have an office space here that they're required to come here to the courthouse to do work and meet with people ideally yes they would use a vacant office that we have within the department right now to be able to meet with people in office and meet with people in the community okay I ideally but if they don't they will just be contracted to visit people that do not we are serving outside of the community I'm trying to understand that would be one option that we could consider there are other documentation or other contact and compliance tasks that we could delegate to a case manager to free up our staff who are located in Cook County to be able to spend more time with clients or respond to new referrals so like the paperwork end of it potentially yes we haven't gotten into that level of detail yet with the the contractor to determine how we would operationalize this agreement but I can imagine there are a few different scenarios in which we could get support from a person who isn't physically located in Cook County okay is and is this uh temp position considered 40 hours a week or less or we would be looking for a full-time placement but open to part-time as well if that were a deal breaker in terms of getting someone placed to support our department and so in the contract it said that we're committed to 350 hours yeah are we delaying posting for the new position for a couple of months or what do we do if we have an applicant we are kind of committed for the next 6 months to I thought it was more than that but okay I thought we wrote down something here about 6 to 12 months so I'm just how's that work we are actively recruiting for the full-time permanent position as well so if we have a temporary placement for 6 months that would provide continuity overlap support while our new worker is going through training and onboarding to be able to perform at the the level of a fully trained case manager okay just just time frame if you had somebody to day who said yes I'll take the job I'm guessing it would probably take 2 to 3 months to actually get them visiting their first client at least yes yeah so typically um a new social worker is going through a period of six months of training before they are um serving on intake which is a core function of our case management team um often times we have workers who are shadowing starting to see clients sooner in that 3 to six month range um we don't have the the luxury um I think it's fair to qualify it of of going through 6 months to a year of training for our staff as often times that vacancy has been open for three six months even a year in the case of our most recent Children and Family Services case management hire so so the six-month contract is not really a you're not going to have too many people we're not going to have too many people we're not going to have not enough work if there's an overlap of a temporary case manager and a permanent case manager thank you and there is a termination Clause too if okay that does happen but yeah uh Madam chair I also have a question so well attorney here can go right ahead I'm s sorry I said it's all a good fun please chair non genderized um so I I heard uh commissioner Johnson referred to a six-month contract and I've heard others to the contract that you sent me to review it's four pages long and maybe there's something else in addendum that I'm not seeing but where in this contract does it say it's a six-month term that is not specified in the contract template provided by the vendor that's what we as a department are targeting in terms of a a placement goal for a temporary employee would be a period of 6 to 12 months so are you asking the uh company the contractor to provide somebody for six months yes okay so we will need to make some changes to the contract um the other thing I'm seeing so the only thing I see related to 6 months or 12 months and just to make this clear in case it wasn't uh understood that the um if we were to hire this person let's say we extend an offer because it's going really well um we are agreeing that um we will pay them some kind of a referral fee um unless it's unless they've P unless they've been employed at least 6 weeks so I'm sorry 8 weeks 8 weeks is 350 hours and that's the um reference in the contract to the minimum 350 hours um and there's a termination Clause correct that only requires 30 days prior notification it doesn't um re require any kind of cause to terminate it just requires um that the person uh if we give less than two weeks termination notice uh the contractor has the right to continue billing for the balance of two weeks and then it says if we terminate that contract and then we hire the person within 60 days of terminating the contract with TSW then we have to pay them a fee a referral fee equal to 5% of the employees for salary first year salary with the client or $33,000 whichever is greater so if it does turn into a referral source for a permanent employee just um so everyone's aware that there would be an added cost to that and you know we weigh the value of yay another permanent employee versus that cost but thank you yes M any other questions here commissioner Johnson so you've got the contract when would be the start date of this contract will it be like today after this is approved and then we have somebody I don't anticipate that they would be able to meet a same day turnaround time for signing the contract so once I have board authorization to move forward with Contracting I'll reach back out to the agency and start talking about some of the logistics of the placement what we're looking for what we have targeted for a time frame confirming um some of the contract language that attorney hickin mentioned around the attempt to hire program is that something that we would want to consider knowing that we would have to pay a fee um so I would begin conversations about do you have someone identified who could fill this Gap who is experienced in children's mental health who could also provide support to Children and Family Services and what's the time frame for getting someone started I did not anticipate that this would be immediate I imagine it would take at least least 30 days 60 days to to identify someone and then to have someone placed and beginning onboarding with our department again alongside that recruitment for the permanent positions you you probably a lot better perspective than me but I'm really hopeful it's faster than 30 days a week two weeks oh yeah we've got somebody like but then it's the whole the training you know if Allison can't find a person to take the job I doubt there's a warehouse full of them somewhere just waiting for position good point good point I am imagining that but yes good point um and then in regards to amending the contract for the 6 months which is the Target that uh do we know if um uh temp social work is open to that I mean can they fulfill that even um that's what I cited in my initial Discovery call with the contractor so again once I have a chance to reconnect with her pending board approval we'll we'll talk through that time frame is that feasible for a placement is it necessary to spell that out in the the contract how have other organizations approached this in the past okay other questions commissioner John anything so attorney hickin it's your recommendation that we include that language now but or Alison are you wanting to have the discussion first or what's our what's our TCT there so I'm uh I'm going to partially defer to Allison and see what she says but what I'm gathering is that um she's looking for uh board approval to the general concept and then taking that back to negotiate some of the smaller uh well a big detail is that term of the contract how long are you willing to provide us with this temporary employee there are other things not addressed in the contract like um does a person have a desk here and a space and County Equipment is the person going to does the contractor agree that they follow certain County policies you know like our drug and alcohol free workplace policy and other policies related to internet access and and those kind of things um but anyway I I deferring to Allison on timing um I'm wondering if we'll be bringing a final contract back to the board because it there are a few things missing from this one that um in order to protect the county we should be including in a more fleshed out agreement that accurate I'm sorry sorry Mr chair is that something we could do at a regular business meeting or I mean if there's if there's agreement among the phhs board that um it wants to enable uh director McIntyre to do this could could that approval occur at a board meeting or we have to wait another month is my question and can we go through some of those other items that that should be in the contract um the um Mr chair the um this board could delegate authority to Alisa McIntyre or to James yorie to sign the contract once it's fully approved by the County Attorney um you could include in your motion the types of terms you want us to include in the contract or to fight for negotiate for and then you wouldn't it would not have to come back in front of this board except to say the contract is signed here's what we've wound up with Mr Johnson and I appreciate that uh I also think maybe the three of you to get together and talk about it and figure it out put it together bring it to our next board meeting and cuz it seems like there's consensus here this is the way we need to go it's the details that need to be worked out that haven't been done yet so work out the details it's something that's to me not a big deal as long as you all three are looking at the the way it what needs to get in put into a contract make sure that the Count's covered liability wise with our policies and you're getting what you want with the terms you want so my suggestion is let's send this back and then put it on our next agenda should be real simple with the actual contract that has been figured out by our County attorney yeah um I don't want to um lose any more time just because of the situation regarding case load and staff um and I agree that I think we're on the same page there um and so I think we can just delegate as attorney hickin was suggesting and then you know have it brought back if there's any substantive changes or or or differences from what we were anticipating or expecting or aiming for um commissioner white so you're you're recommending that we approve something before we really know the details yes we are all in seems like we're in we're in agreement with this but you are recommending that we approve something without knowing the details um what I'm what I'm suggesting is that we delegate Authority um to director McIntyre um to sign the contract um pending again legal review and you know all the all the bureaucratic check boxes um and then coming back if there's any any changes from what we were just talking about um but that's why that's why I think it's important to talk things through to make sure that we all have that same uh Vision uh and it's on public record and then um we can go for it without the churn uh unnecessary churn and then get a report back if in fact that's not how it went or ideally yes all systems go here but are there details that you would like to know more about no what happens if we suggest something and they say well we if you I don't know what it would be but if they say no well this is going to be an additional cost or we really can't do this or there's going to be limitations then we just allow our attorney and the administrator and Allison to work out the details which because I'm assuming they would know how best to do that mhm better than me I will not respond okay Mr chair and uh commissioner white I um there are several options that the board has I mean you you get to give a broad delegation of Authority or you get to give a narrow delegation of authority you can say so long as the price is the same or doesn't adjust upward by 10% and you've and you've checked these boxes for County liability go for it and sign it come back and let us know if that doesn't work out or do you know what I'm saying so the details it it might be um it it might be helpful to hear what details you're concerned about about um going either way um so that those are things we can focus on in the negotiation um but you know uh Miss McIntyre Mr yorie they are subject to the authority of the board they're going to act consistently with the board's decision today uh and I'm not going to allow um or I'm not going to advise either to sign a contract that doesn't um isn't consistent with protecting the county from unreasonable liability I just say I want to agree I don't think we want to delay I mean you know we don't know who would apply what their qualifications would be any of that I mean we know there some because they've been approved by this organization but there could be some variation in all kinds of things with a position maybe they already live here who knows you know but I think so I think just approving Allison to get on with it would I think it would be really harmful to wait another month to decide that because it's already we know it's going to take a while even as it gets started yeah commission my opinion Mr chair I'd like to make a motion to delegate authority to director McIntyre um once approved by the county attorney and our County Administrator to move forward with this thank you commissioner suvin we have a motion is their support it's so support thank you Frank we have a motion and support forther discussion um as far as I'm concern that the six months in the contract isn't wasn't important to me it was just kind of whatever we can get um but um and I know that's the aim so that's our ideal but that wasn't for me a deal breaker by any means attorney hickin are you feeling that that's pretty important to have in there or is it kind of based on the term six or 12 months um I mean I I that seems like a business decision uh not one necessarily I mean it does increase the liability of the county if um they attach some penalty to exiting the contract prior to 6 months mhm um but that's a give and take sounds like there are business reasons that Miss MRE has um outlined for the board to ask for a six-month at least a six-month ter term commiss white and if we if we we get a person a temp and then we are able to fill this position can can we then get attempt for another position I mean we have positions all the time can we just maybe not the same person wouldn't be sliding over but that we would then have the the ability through this agency to continue to use use their temp services for whatever position potentially it's more expensive uh and and you know it doesn't necessarily bring that continuity um that we're looking for but those could it could be some solutions there in well right better than nothing right yeah okay all right uh we have a motion and support uh forther discussion hearing are saying no more all those in favor I I opposed motion passes unanimously thank you on to item 5B next on the agenda is a request to approve an increase in hours for our Public Health educator ship coordinator SL Regional lactation specialist from 35 to 40 hours per week in May of 2023 this board approved an increase in hours for the public health educator ship coordinator position from 24 to 35 hours to fill a regional Gap in Services providing technical assistance and support to Regional best breastfeeding systems as well as the seven County Healthy Northland ship group The Regional Community Health Board or chb approved an additional $60,000 in funding from the Centers for Disease Control or CDC infrastructure fund effective November 1 24 the CDC infrastructure funds will replace the additional ship Grant funds that were previously allocated to the S County region um rather allocated to this position in support of the S County region with this change the regional lactation specialist support will be limited to the 4 County Community Health Board the allocation of funds was approved by Community Health Board staff and Northeast Public Health Leaders with formal approval will anticipated at the community health board at their October 21 meeting the increase in hours for this position bringing it from 35 to 40 is fully funded by that $60,000 CDC infrastructure fund Grant and we have that funding secured through January 30th 2027 thank you uh questions about this one I'll just identify for the the public that we have a number of staff from our Public Health Team to be able to support any questions that you might have about this change in hours and the new funding thank you any questions any motions Mr chair I'll make a motion to approve the increase in hours for the public health educator thank you commissioner St we have a motion support from Mir thank you further discussion what happens after 20127 as we always do our Public Health team will be aggressive in seeking out additional Grant funds to either maintain the Staffing levels that we have currently or pivot and seek out other new funding sources to meet other needs in the community yeah um I've been getting uh excellent feedback in the position from the chb and the regional staff and as witnessed it as well here locally so I really value the work and um think it's um um a really wise way to invest in our community um the health and getting ahead of um um problems down the road I'm just trying to keep people healthy from the get-go so very strong campaign thus far any other questions discussion hearing or seeing none all in favor I opposed motion passes unanimously thank you moving on to 5 C right next up for your consideration is a request to allocate $69,950 of the County's opard settlement funds towards ongoing harm reduction initiatives prevention and Recovery supports uh to date the county has received $125,300 68 and opioid settlement funds we anticipate continuing to receive funds from the various settlements the various op manufacturers over the course of the next 18 years um the last uh request for allocation of funds was approved I believe in 2023 uh so we're looking at allocating additional just shy of $70,000 um in funds towards overdose prevention training and supplies that aren't covered under the Federal hersa grant for the rural communities opioid response program our department Grand Portage health services Grand Portage Human Services Sawtooth Mountain Clinic University of Minnesota are the primary granes under that rore Grant and the Consortium partnership includes several other local and regional service providers each of our local schools and Cook County higher education that rore prevention and Recovery Group has endorsed this plan with additional consultation with the Cook County attorney and Cook County Sheriff uh enclosed in your meeting materials was a detailed budget and budget narrative for how we will Target the use of those settlement funds I'll I'll add as well that we're having some conversations internally about how to develop a more robust process around allocation of our opiod settlement funds and are balancing the fact that we have limited funds we don't have the millions of dollars that are are being allocated for other counties and municipalities and our state um but we also want to have a more transparent and Equitable process more Community engagement more involvement with other partner agencies so that's something that we're working through right now uh alongside the request before you today to you provide immediate funding support to some of these initiatives and again we have staff in the room today who are much more deeply involved in the development of this budget and the consultation process so Happ you to address any questions from the board only question I have was just about the remainder of the funds um did you did you speak to that at all um so the total amount we received to date is uh just over $125,000 we're recommending to allocate just shy of 70,000 today and I believe our initial request was $188,000 and to be determined for the remainder to be determined in terms of that ongoing allocation it's a little unpredictable yep that's all I was wondering thank you questions about this item commissioner solid Mr chair I'd like to make a motion to approve the allocation of $69,950 of our Cook County opioid settlement funds thank you commissioner svin we have a motion as there support support thank you Frank we have a motion and support any further discussion uh again hearing really positive feedback in the community and regionally for your work thank you very much and I think this is money well spent and um and very important so thank you uh anyone else otherwise all in favor I I opposed motion passes unanimously thank you thank you moving on to item 5D the last item before you today is uh again a request for delegated authority to enter into contract negotiations with an electronic health record vendor for Behavioral Health Services so the recommendation is that this board authorize me to negotiate in good faith with a vendor to procure an electronic medical records system that is compliant with the Minnesota Department of Human Services mobile crisis response standards at a cost not to exceed $70,500 for initial implementation and $4,000 ongoing monthly charge the implementation and ongoing monthly expense will be funded through the Department of Human Services crisis response Grant to become a certified mobile crisis response provider Cook County will need to invest in electronic medical record system that is compliant with State Standards to date uh number of Staff in our department um and our contracted service provider from the Wilderness Heth patient treatment program have uh participated in uh a series of meetings and demos with two different electronic medical record vendors our strategy in seeking out vendors has been to um work with vendors that are already in use by other Regional mobile crisis response providers so what are providers in our area already using and how can we capitalize on what is already in place within the region and even already in place within the county um in terms of um finding a record system that might not integrate fully across provider systems but we would at least have that opportunity to learn from workflows business processes uh documentation standards that other providers in the area have in place uh to date we have received a pricing proposal from one of the two vendors that we've been working with and are waiting for cost estimates from the second vendor the budget for the Cook County mobile crisis response application includes $110 994 $10,995 for contract year 1 2025 which includes implementation and monthly expense for the year and $40,000 494 for contract year 2 represent presenting those ongoing monthly expenses we are also exploring transitioning our current electronic medical record for the Wilderness outpatient treatment program to this new platform so we have one platform for all of Behavioral Health Services and not a whole new system that our scheduling and administrative staff and billing and Reporting staff are having to use both systems that we are working with to develop proposals integrate with the mandated State reporting system systems that were required to use both on the mobile crisis end that being the mental health information system and on the substance use disorder evaluation and treatment end which is Dan or the drug and alcohol abuse normative evaluation system the purpose again is to implement electronic medical record for Behavioral Health services including mobile crisis response and substance use disorder treatment and evaluation services one of the vendors that we've been working with who developed the proposal that informed our budget request in the mobile crisis response application provided uh a cost analysis return on investment analysis based on what we report what we were reporting in terms of the duplicate data entry the manual claims generation client contact UM within our our current system for Wilderness outpatient again we don't have electronic medical record system in place for mobile crisis response as that program has been in development we're documenting that in ssis which is our social services document management system it's not a clinical record for Behavioral Health Services which we need for this program that vendor estimated a $324 monthly savings based on the current duplicate entry and client contact to follow up on billing on appointments um that we would actually see a cost savings by investing in this program financial implications the initial implementation and ongoing expense are included in that 2-year mobile crisis Grant application budget I have a formal proposal and a contract I'm not prepared to present that to the board yet as we're still working with two different vendors and I am seeking a proposal and contract agreement for the second vendor so the request before you today is to authorize me to enter into contract negotiations with one of these two vendors to be able to procure and Implement an electronic medical record system before year end uh a few other comments on the the request before you today um again waiting on another proposal to be able to fully compare the two systems that were exploring and then I'm also working with the Department of Human Services on uh getting Clarity around the timeline for our grant notification as I know that that is going to be a major factor in deciding which um organization to move forward with as we want to have some indication that we've secured funding to cover the expense of that investment also seeking Clarity on the expectations for Contracting with the state as a relates to implementing a fully functioning electronic medical record system as this is a a major initiative it can take four to 6 months to have something in place um so we've been working through this internally from a fiscal administrative support scheduling and clinical standpoint um I have updated our Mis team that we're moving forward with us and that I intend to bring them in to the negot ation and discussion as we have a better idea of what vendor will be moving forward with uh I imagine that as with any other system that we are working with as a department within our service level agreement with mis it will specify that primarily our department staff are working with the the vendor and there's minimal impact on the Mis team in terms of the ongoing maintenance of um and technical support for that system happy to address any questions that the board has about this request might this uh help the the um the behavioral health um team at large or you think it's primarily for the mobile crisis response so what I Envision is that we will focus on the mobile crisis response program to start that that will be our goal to have something implemented on or at least within a time frame that's reasonable to the state for having that in place for mobile crisis for January 1 which is the start of our contract year as a second phase I would bring the substance use disorder treatment program into this system in terms of scoping this out for 5 10 years down the road the systems that we're looking with I think are programs that we could grow with um that if we develop um arms service for example uh adult Mental Health rehabilitative Services that this would be a a clinical platform that we could use to document those Services as well if we begin providing diagnostic assessments within our department to be able to fill in some of the gaps that our local and Regional Mental Health Service Providers aren't able to meet this is a system that we could use as a clinical record for those services again none of this is in the immediate future our focus in the short term is the mobile crisis response program but again looking at a system that we could grow with um into the future thank you uh both of the systems that we're looking at are compliant with record um segregation for chemical health records so we're able to keep a container around any clinical records that are specific to the substance use disorder treatment program and those would not be uh in meshed with the other mobile crisis services so that's something that's been important to us as we look at different vendors okay um one of the vendors that we're looking with has um mobile services so that we would be able to have staff document in the field as they're providing mobile crisis response services in more real remote areas of the county haven't had a chance to determine if that's a feature that the second vendor that we're looking at offers so we're a little earlier on in that process MH so again my intent with board approval would be to move forward with with Contracting and presenting a a final contract uh once I have some certainty around that DHS Grant allocation our questions for Alison here any motions commissioner Mr chair um first of all I want to thank you for engaging with mis to make sure that um we're we're going in a good direction um I would like to make a motion to delegate authority to our phhs director to contract with an electronic health record vendor for Behavioral Health Services is there support support motion and support forther discussion um any anything any clarifications that are needed I just saw a different language but it's probably all fine we that was my question yeah mobile crisis response right well and enter into contract negotiations or contract with the vendor I was confused by your wording of your thank you all right motion so I just want to clarify so I will clarify that it is to um procure an electronic medical record system that's compliant with the Minnesota Department of Human Services mobile crisis response standards at a cost of up to $70,500 for implementation of expense and $4,000 of monthly charges and I am clarification for our attorney does that contract still come before this board then final approval with that motion uh what did the original motion I'm sorry I didn't follow every I asked to delegate authority to our phhs director to negotiate in good faith with a vendor to procure an electronic medical records that uh then the contract would have to come back in front of the board for final approval yes thank you just wanted that clarification and R your your support is going with the ific thank you thank you any further discussion hearing or seeing none all in favor I opposed motion passes unanimously thank you it's a lot and we still I mean we're past our time now but we do have some time before our next meeting if we want to do some committee reports which had to skip last uh meeting so I would um um suggest that we do um start with commissioner white here with the active living steering committee uh yes the active living steering committee the um um the weather pretty much really helps promote active living um somewhere down the road of course in the future we're going to be needing a lot more sidewalks from the housing developments and so that's a real consideration the gami trail uh is getting re uh uh repaired in places from the last time around when we had quite the rain um and um uh port a porta poot in in one or more places has been helpful in reducing the amount of refu on the trail so um that and active living it it always continues this County likes to move on the aeoa we will be meeting um yeah nothing uh extraordinary to that has transpired with aeoa and the arrowhead Health Alliance they are meeting next month in October okay and I have been playing Fon with Rick to just make a connection for the last uh 5 days or something like that oh God okay thank you commissioner Johnson Arc um our next meeting is International Falls on Friday but I just the July report probation report I just wanted to highlight um we had some addition entries and removals every month with but there was more entries this time then removals as far as our case load for through July of 2024 I don't have the August one yet um but we're ending with 78 people on probation the majority of the probation cases involve dwi's assault both domestic and against family and I just want to highlight of all all the major concerns as far as what is causing people to get onto probation those are the top three things um quite substantially so I just want to point that out when we're talking about the needs of our community addressing um um substance misuse and behavioral issues it's proven in our um probation reports so that's all I have to report from that thank you um Child Care Solutions subcommittee commissioner storle we will meet next month you Community Health Board I don't think I have anything to report FR uh Frank do you want I'd like to add a little something please um so the last Community Health board meeting was uh all cannabis all the time and I think I mentioned that at the last meeting however I've been in touch with the director um we have an opportunity here which we did not have with vaping and that is we know that Community sale of cannabis products um is coming and I know that the ward has done a lot the commission has done a lot as far as the legal go the legal ordinance goes however we have a unique opportunity now to get ahead of the curve and address public health concerns especially with regard to underage purchases um I mentioned that to the director of chb and Allison she suggested uh that U that Jenna olssen our community health educator would contact me um she has not yet but I will do that um I strongly recommend that we get a campaign underway before it comes not trying to play catchup later um and and again not just an article or something like that but a full-blown campaign because that is coming is going to be a long-term issue and if you can reach eighth graders and middle school children and high schoolers um and even the 18 to 21 year old group um with with appropriate messages not preaching uh but something that will set the emotional context of oh wow is that cool or is that a yuck okay um the emotions is where we have to be looking at not just you know setting out the public health scientific facts so I strongly recommend we we get on on that before it happens thank you thank you and that was also discussed at the last advisory council meeting so we can skip that update okay yeah aome and if I may um add that this afternoon our local prevention Coalition is meeting with a focus on cannabis and both our Public Health and Human Services advisory Council and local mental health advisory councils we're invited to be a part of that discussion and I um follow National Trends on this issue and it's it's really interesting to see that alcohol sales are down cannabis sales are up cannabis use is up except with teams it's down which is like a head scratcher with uh stereotypes and you know the concerns that we all share uh it's just a really interesting Dynamic here so probation is up Auto home placements are you know there's all kinds of things to be following here it's just the it's it's fascinating all the Dynamics so thank you for for sharing that and thank you Allison for sharing that too uh moving on to the local mental health advisory Council random well I think most of what we talked about was already repeated again here you know talking about a lot of the same issues so unless I missed something but um okay preparing kind of preparing for this meeting and talking about the staff and is that accurate do you think one thing I'd mention that came up at the meeting that hasn't come up yet this morning is that we now have a a billboard on the east side of town um the be there Campaign which is a regional effort led by uh Jenna with the Community Health Board with a lot of support from our Public Health Team so it's exciting to see that uh 988 and be there messaging on the east side of town thank you and restorative justice commissioner Johnson that meeting is tomorrow I wasn't able to attend the um last meeting but I know attorney hickin is but there are a couple items that I do want to highlight from they um looking to get the word out about restorative justice so if you are a member of a church or a community club or something that is willing to have a presentation from the restorative justice group they would love to come to you and tell you about restorative justice and that because we're looking for more um Circle participants and training will be in sometime in January it hasn't been set yet but in in anticipation of needing more volunteers put that word out there if you are willing to um host or provide a venue for them to talk about restorative justice you can reach out and we can set that up and I'll turn it over to attorney hickin to tell us what transpired at the last meeting that I missed sure um I'm not sure if the board was updated about the recent hires that RJ made so there's now a circle keeper coordinator her name is Rachel Clark and there is a um restorative justice coordinator and his name is Steve warude that name might be familiar to us we're uh RJ is really fortunate to have him um officially part of the effort um and because he in in a lot of ways restorative justice in Kook count was his brainchild 10 15 years ago or earlier um so those are positive um positive movements for the restorative justice effort um the other thing that's happening is that uh Northshore Healthcare Foundation is encouraging restorative justice to go forth and become its own nonprofit agency you know the Healthcare Foundation sees itself as a um what do they call it a starter or incubator incubator thank you an incubator organization um and you know the uh K County Minnesota restorative justice is is now maturing as an organization and is ready to do that and um so they're going to Branch out and become an independent nonprofit and I think that the timeline for that is maybe out 6 months or so they're still planning so they uh they were talking about a new name that b might be more inclusive um there have been discussions about joining up with Lake County restorative justice efforts which are more um in their infancy um and they've decided to kind of hold off on on that for now and just focus on um establishing the nonprofit uh with the original Mission of serving Cook County um but again with a name that's broad enough that perhaps in the future uh we can join efforts with other Northshore communities which I think is a good idea but I'm just one member of The Advisory Council um anything else um I just want to highlight the efforts of Shelley starky Who is the restorative justice justice truancy worker um so our uh local restorative justice program took on truancy or the assist assisting the government agencies the school and the county with truancy um in the last couple years and her um Shelly is the employee who does that um and she really has a heart for this work and has made an influence is posi ly influenced a lot of different students um you know doing more for those kids and families than um the county or the school can do with our resource limitations and also just with the relationship that we have we have a different relationship with students ours uh from the county attorney's office is more like the enforcer um and the school has more of an educator influence and and she's like pure support let's get let's figure out how to get you to school School let's get to some of those underlying issues that are keeping you from making it so uh I think um the county leadership should be pretty grateful that you know she's involved and restorative justice is involved in truancy because I think that has the real potential to um reduce the problems we have with treny over time um and Common Sense and maybe research I haven't looked at it um inform us that if a kid goes from Trent to going to school and getting their high school diploma you're giving them a much greater chance at success in the future and reducing the chances that they are going to uh require our services in Corrections or prosecution or even in Social Services if they're supported in those early years to um be successful in school so yeah I love restorative justice I could go on but that's enough excellent thank you move on to Council on Aging commissioner white um the council the Council on Aging excuse me is um very interested in having a conversation I had a random conversation with Frank in the grocery store the other day and so at some point I would hope that that everybody gets to sit at the same table and have a talk about helping financially with the Hub and and what firsthand from those board members who have done it who have done an incredible job over the last couple of years and commissioner Sullivan was there from the start of that change and um it it it is an organization that is um vital to this community though much of the community is unaware of it so Alon just to comment on that topic as a followup to our last meeting commissioner white uh Grace with our Public Health team has started looking into uh facilitators that might be able to convene a conversation around long range planning and that this could align with um some of the age-friendly work that we're doing in partnership with Care Partners so there's some momentum there and we'll certainly keep you all informed as that moves forward thank you uh emergency preparedness committee commissioner Sullivan thank you um well I imagine most people have seen in social media that our Emergency Management director Mike keeport has put out um a press release trying to get public input for the Cook County updating of our Hazard mitigation plan and so they're looking for County residents County Community lead leaders business owners other area agencies and organizations to share how severe weather impacts their property and lives and to share ideas on how to reduce local impacts um so this is a plan that is updated every 5 years and Mike has been in his position for 5 years now so it's time to to go forward with this but the plan will assess the national natural hazards that we have in Cook County like tornadoes straight line winds ice storms blizzards Wildfire flooding and even extreme temperatures and talk about how to uh minimize damage in future events so again we're looking for um input from the public and organizations um and some of this Hazard mitigation plan might include things like storm water management which we're already engaged in with Soil and Water um removing existing buildings if they're in flood or erosion prone areas increasing defensible spaces around homes like we do with firewise um and hard to think about it here in Cook County but constructing tornado safe rooms in vulnerable areas and I think about the the trailer park that is close to um my residents and also is is in District 4 um as being an area where we might consider that um bearing overhead power lines which Arrowhead has been doing for a long time so not necessarily anything new but increasing our efforts to make sure that we're prepared to deal with those types of countywide emergencies thank you Healthcare planning committee commissioner Starley um we did not meet but I'll go right into the next topic which I'm not going to report much on other than U mental health is a concern all across the country and um I just came off of uh associ in Minnesota counties attending the health committee and um I can't report on um 7 hours of work but I'll give some highlights um lots of discussions on technology modernization which we're already talking about here Workforce recruitment retention training restoring funding for cannabis future needs that we're going to be talking about um so basically I attended we broke up into groups and I attended the topic of um training availability of training there are some folks in the metro area that have to travel to duth for onboard training there's not available from the state for any kind of Zoom training or they have to go to Marshall and so you know we really need to look into how people can have training when they're just beginning rather than to have all this travel that they have to do um so a quicker response online and um recognize the past training of new employees so that they come in they're recruited and then they have to start all over again for a refresher course which could take up to two to three four months so some past training recognization there and um so you know we're we voted on all of that that's coming up then in December so all of these are going to be um submitted to uh AMC so when we have this committee meeting we already have two or three AMC employer right there and so they're going to put all this into a a need and categorize what was the most important which is hard because they're all important but before we ended our meeting um um commissioner cidan from Rochester said that she's really tired of us ringing our hands and talking about mental health and the fact that our systems are failing our Residential Treatment beds you know are just not there for uh for folks that're being housed in jails and in centers that are not appropriate emergency rooms and all of that so I'm just bringing this up as this is a proposition or she actually put it into a resolution I'm not going to read it all but the idea is that AMC will be the umbrella to support a working group that will consist of Commissioners um tribal involvement public he local public health associations County attorneys Sheriff's Association and we come together to talk about how that we can work and present this to our legislature because we're not getting through to them they're not understanding or maybe they're understanding but you know they don't seem to want to have it as a priority so we passed it and it's on then to AMC plate to consider they would not conduct it but there would be an outside Source coordinator that would bring all of us together whoever wants to have time to go on to this type of um uh identifying these Solutions and uh you know really nothing can be done because we don't know who's going to be selected for our new representatives and Senators that's a big factor but we will know if AMC will take this on by the time we go to St Paul for the legislative session which would be um end of February first part of March but anyway um we thank Sheila for this because because um it is frustrating to hear from all over the state the same thing that we all encounter so it's a good piece of news in a way and it's um encouraging that at least somebody has said we're we're tired of it we need to move forward and have some solutions identified and that's it thank you Frank I wonder if it would be possible um between the November election and the opening of the legislative cent in February uh to contact the new or returning legislators before they get there because when they get there they're going to be distracted by a bunch of other things meanwhile they have a couple of months you got a couple of month window to get first on their list to get right in the front of their brain right so just a suggestion think about Point um anything from no you want to report on commission no other than it's an ongoing discussion there too it'll help uh then we've got Northeast uh office and job training commissioner Johnson you um that meeting's next week but I um don't know if you've all heard that commissioner I passed away on the 11th and so um I will really miss his input he had a lot of experience on that board that I relied on him for to give a different perspective than um I'm have so thank you I do have one other thing that I would like to report from extension that just got sent and I'm sure um commissioner storle I'm not sure if it went out to all the Commissioners but there's a comet training now when I saw that word I'm thinking that's a word that I've heard in other places that I didn't anyway there's a comet training which is changing our mental and emotional tra transect whatever trajectory that's it and on the 19th or the 20th down in clo now I can't attend so but I went to the website saying oh that's interesting and they're holding these um at different areas through extension but there is also an online webinar option like sometime in October so I just think that should be promoted in our community we have extension resources that are available to us that we can get and there was no cost for the free webinar so um awesome that I could see I didn't sign up because I don't know my schedule yet but anyway that just for information that should be promoted through extension that that these services are available yeah that could be good for um Public Health too uh please Alison we thank you commissioner we have been promoting that within our team and our staff newsletter but well will uh absolutely take note and include that in some of our social media outreach as well Community thank you and I'm on for the NorthShore collaborative nothing to share there and then the Public Health Human Services advised Council Frank I think uh yeah just one just one other thing um there is a invitation out waiting confirmation from the CDC new director of the new office of rural Health um to address the Community Health Board on in our October 21st meeting and that will be a big tent we'll also be inviting the Cook County advisory Council the mental health council members of the Public Health Board it'll be y all com it'll be a zoom briefing on um on the resources that that are available through this newly opened office of rural public health and I think that Focus office is coming through the focus group is coming from the rural Health Institute which is also has a close association with it so just want to let you know you may be getting an invitation to an October 21st briefing nice thank you uh then we have the good of the order which I'm going to pass uh future meetings uh we have the uh September 27th 9 to3 Human Services leadership form and Grand Portage I'm planning on attending I hope all are aiming for it but I know not all can and then uh last item is adjournment so we are adjourned thank you thank you thank you what was your last last thing about Grand page what was the last thing that you just said you yep it's the Human Services leadership form yeah yep that's