8-27-2026 HSD Board Minutes

1 MANITOWOC COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT BOARD MEETING MINUTES CALL TO ORDER: The Manitowoc County Human Services Department Board met at 4:02 p.m. on Thursday, August 27, 2026 in open session at the Manitowoc County Human Services Department, 801 Jay Street, Manitowoc, WI. Board Members Present: Agnew, Bruns, Grambow, Klein, McDonell, Murack, Ruggirello, Schiesl Board Members Excused: Erdmann Board Members Absent: County Board Members Present: County Staff Present: Ader, Fure, Johnson, Kaye-Salm, Kubec, Marquardt, Sturzl, Whitney, Williquette, Yang PUBLIC COMMENT ON ANY MATTER PERTAINING TO THE HUMAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT: None. APPROVAL OF THE JULY 23, 2026 REGULAR MEETING MINUTES: A MOTION WAS MADE BY AGNEW, SECONDED BY RUGGIRELLO TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM THE JULY 23RD MEETING. MOTION WAS CARRIED. EDUCATION TOPIC – ADULT PROTECTIVE SRVICES – Cristy Yang, Betsy Johnson and staff Human Services currently has six Adult Protective Service (APS) workers serving elders over age 60, and adults ages 18–59 with a physical or behavioral health condition that substantially impairs their ability to care for their own needs. APS workers investigate abuse, neglect and financial exploitation. as well as caregiver misconduct in facilitates. Their work also involves petitioning for guardianships and protective placements, Watts reviews, providing information and referral to the ADRC for long term care needs and finding placements for people with aggressive behaviors. Referrals increased 57% between 2023 and 2025. With Manitowoc County’s aging population, referrals are expected to continue increasing. Workers must balance safety concerns with an individual’s right to personal freedom and the right to refuse assistance. The top referrals reported are self-neglect and financial abuse. In 2025, elders in Manitowoc County were scammed out of approximately $1.4 million. FINANCIAL REPORT – Daniel Whitney Deputy Director Whitney shared the department’s financial results for 2025 which are now complete, we ended with a $230,176.56 surplus for 2025. The financials for 2026 will need a lot of work, right now we are projecting a deficit of $412,442.28. Lori has written and received multiple grants which are really helping the bottom line. DIRECTOR’S REPORT ON AGENCY OPERATIONS - Lori Fure Some good news, we had a site review of the State Opioid Response Grant. This is a grant for roughly $450,000, that comes with specific requirements. We had done an excellent job with our treatment and support services, collecting data, and spending all grant funds appropriately. We received notice that Winnebago and Mendota Mental Health Institutes are increasing their rates by 10% in October. This translates to $1932/day. If a patient needs 1:1 service the rate is $2383/day. With Fond du Lac 2 county recently announcing closure of their inpatient psychiatric unit, we recognize our need for Winnebago Mental Health Institute will increase. We currently have one mental health diversion bed for crisis stabilization. This bed is located at Newport Home, which is a community based residential facility (CBRF). We will not have this bed in 2027. In addition, we are working to expand our supported apartment program. This means moving people out of CBRF’s to supported apartments. Youth placements continue to be high, there were 2 additional youth picked up Friday. One remains in secure detention and will need a group home. Youth placements will continue to be a high-cost item for 2027. Since Dan Whitney tendered his resignation a month ago, we received 4 applicants, but none were qualified. The priority right now is to maintain operations. Lori would like to appoint our financial analyst to an interim Financial Manager position. She distributed the plan to board members and will be going to the Personnel Committee next week with the proposal. This worker will train with Dan until he leaves at the end of October. The morale in the department is low due to increased workloads and uncertainty. Over the past month, two people resigned. One was in CPS ongoing, the other was our main front desk staff in admin support. At present we have 11 vacant positions (not county Dan’s). We are recruiting for two: the front desk and a permanent financial manager. QUESTIONS FROM BOARD MEMBERS ON THE STATUS OF THE HUMAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT None. DATE OF NEXT MEETING: The next regular meeting of the Human Services Department Board will be held on September 24, 2026 at 4:15 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Manitowoc County Human Services, 801 Jay Street, Manitowoc, WI. ADJOURNMENT: A MOTION WAS MADE BY BRUNS, SECONDED BY AGNEW TO ADJOURN THE MEETING OF THE HUMAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT BOARD AT 5:36 P.M., MOTION CARRIED.