Health and Human Services Board Meeting — Minutes

Health and Human Services Board Minutes January 21, 2026 5:00 PM St. Croix County Government Center - Room 1400 Government Center - 1101 Carmichael Road, Hudson, Wisconsin Call to Order Health and Human Services (HHS) Board Chair Greg Tellijohn called the January 21, 2026, meeting of the HHS Board to order at approximately 5:00 PM. Roll Call PRESENT: Mike Barcalow, Kathleen Findlay, Cathy Leaf, Lisa Lind, Deb Lindemann, Wayne Roen, Julie Smith, Greg Tellijohn ABSENT: Others in Attendance: Health and Human Services (HHS) Director Bob Rohret, County Administrator Ken Witt, HHS Deputy Director Shar Lopez, Fiscal Manager Fay Strenke, Children Services Supervisor Jessica Dodge, Behavioral Health Administrator Becky Kerr, ADRC Administrator Kristin Newton, Public Information Officer Adam Kastonek Approval of Minutes 1. Minutes of Previous Meeting - December 17, 2025 Health and Human Services (HHS) Board Chair Greg Tellijohn asked the Board after reviewing the minutes from the December 17, 2025 HHS Board meeting if any editing was needed. With nothing noted, the minutes were accepted as submitted. Public Comment Health and Human Services (HHS) Board Chair Greg Tellijohn opened the meeting to Public Comment for items on or off the agenda. No Public Comment requests were submitted tonight. Business 1. Financial Report for December 2025 HHS Fiscal Manager Fay Strenke was unable to attend tonight's meeting, so HHS Director Bob Rohret provided a brief overview of the financial report. Rohret highlighted that in the packet is the Dec. 2025 year to date. He reminded, that the Dec. 2025 numbers could still change as revenue and expenses are still being entered for 2025. Rohret shared that there are no new trends to report, but continued concern about high amounts in purchased services, which is mainly due to the costs of children and adults placed outside the home. Rohret did inform about a potential Medicaid waiver that the State applied for that could be coming this quater. This would allow for Medicaid reimbursement for mental health facilities like Winnebago, (“Institutions for Mental Disease- IMDs”), which would help significantly in recouping the federal share of costs for placements involving persons with Medicaid. A few questions were asked and answered. 2. Family Treatment Court Update Children Services Supervisor Jessica Dodge provided some updates about Family Treatment Court. Staff have been working hard to get things structured and up and running. Family Treatment Court was unanimously approved by the Community Justice Collaboration Council (CJCC). Dodge shared that there was a kick-off event on January 15th that was well attended and well received. The kick-off was recorded and will be on the County Website soon. On Feb 5th, the first court session will take place with approximately 4 participants ready to be part of Family Treatment Court. Judge Waterman will be the presiding Judge. This is exciting news. Some comments and discussion were had. Board Members and HHS Director Rohret thanked Jessica and the team for all their work. 3. Behavioral Health Transition and Program Updates Health and Human Services (HHS) Deputy Director Shar Lopez and Behavioral Health (BH) Administrator Becky Kerr provided an update on how things are going as transitions happen within BH. Lopez shared BH data from 2025, which shows the Emergency Detentions were down, but several of those detentions were long-term stays, which made the purchased services so high. A continued area of concern is the lack of options to send people that likely don't require the level of care that Winnebago provides, but at times it is our only option. Lopez also shared that jail services fall under behavior health and contacts there continue to increase. Our therapist at the jail that we were able to get due to funds from the State Crisis Intervention Program(SCIP) grant, has started, and is seeing those that are assessed as seriously mentally ill. Adult Protective Services also continues to see growing numbers and isn't slowing down. The Integrated Clinic continues to be busy, in particular the Intoxicated Driver Program. Currently, if we assess the need for Intensive Outpatient Treatment (IOP), we are referring clients out to other community partners as we gave up our certification to provide IOP (9 hrs. plus/wk) due to us being unable to sustain a sufficient number of participants to make the service viable. We are able to offer other alternatives, including person-centered planning and CCS, to meet the needs of most people assessed for outpatient care. Administrative transitions have taken place with the Behavioral Health Division as HHS Deputy Director Lopez provided a warm hand off to the new Behavioral Health Administrator, Becky Kerr who has previously served as the CCS Administrator since 2020. Kerr shared a bit about how she is working through the transition. Currently, she is meeting with staff and looking at what is going well and what areas are needing some growth. HHS Director Rohret informed that Becky has done a nice job working through this and has been a fearless leader. A few questions asked and discussion had. 4. 2025 Summary of Rabies Prevention Activities and Outcomes HHS Director Bob Rohret shared a summary of rabies prevention and outcomes as we conclude 2025. Request for Future Agenda Items Health and Human Services (HHS) Board Chair Greg Tellijohn asked for any requests for future agenda items. No requests this evening, but if items come up, Board members are encouraged to contact HHS Board Chair Greg Tellijohn or HHS Director Bob Rohret. * Interest in Foster Care children as they age out and what happens to them. Announcements Health and Human Services (HHS) Board Chair Greg Tellijohn asked if there were any announcements this evening. *Rohret informed that the second half of the Vital Strategies opioid settlement matching funds should be released in Feb. and will be approximately $50,000 to support the Substance Use professional position working with families affected by substance use and the PH evaluation of those efforts * Chair Tellijohn reminded about Ruby's Pantry tomorrow night 5–7 in New Richmond Date of Next Meeting 1. Date of Next Meeting - February 18, 2026 Adjournment Health and Human Services (HHS) Board Chair Greg Tellijohn called this January 21, 2026, meeting of the HHS Board adjourned at approximately 5:30 PM. Health and Human Services Board Minutes December 17, 2025 5:00 PM St. Croix County Government Center - Room 1400 Government Center - 1101 Carmichael Road, Hudson, Wisconsin Call to Order Health and Human Services (HHS) Board Chair Greg Tellijohn called the December 17, 2025, meeting of the HHS Board to order at approximately 5:00 PM. Roll Call PRESENT: Mike Barcalow, Kathleen Findlay, Cathy Leaf, Deb Lindemann, Wayne Roen, Greg Tellijohn ABSENT: Lisa Lind, Julie Smith Others in Attendance: Health and Human Services (HHS) Director Bob Rohret, County Administrator Ken Witt, HHS Deputy Director Shar Lopez, Fiscal Manager Fay Strenke, Public Health Administrator/Health Officer Elle Klasen, Public Health Strategist, Genevieve Palazzolo, Public Information Officer Adam Kastonek Approval of Minutes Health and Human Services (HHS) Board Chair Greg Tellijohn asked the Board after reviewing the minutes from the November 19, 2025 HHS Board meeting if any editing was needed. With nothing noted, the minutes were accepted as submitted. 1. Minutes of Previous Meeting - November 19, 2025 Public Comment Health and Human Services (HHS) Board Chair Greg Tellijohn opened the meeting to public comment for items on or off the agenda. No public comment requests were submitted tonight. Business 1. Financial Report for November 2025 Fiscal Manager Fay Strenke reviewed the monthly HHS financials with the HHS Board. Strenke informed that the financials in the packet are for November 2025. Strenke went on to highlight that things continue to trend the same. In comparing Nov. 2025 to Nov. 2024, things are still showing in the red, though a little less than last year. There will be revenues and expenses that will continue to be added through Feb. of 2026, that will be posted back to 2025, but we should finish similar to last year. The Health Care Campus is showing a positive balance and should finish the year that way. Some discussion followed. 2. Public Health Updates Public Health (PH) Administrator/Health Officer Elle Klasen shared information on some of the smaller projects that PH works on. She shared that the Reproductive Health program applied for a grant with Pierce County for what is called Vitamin Angels. This allows them to be able to provide prenatal vitamins to all those with a positive pregnancy test or those planning to become pregnant. Also, the Fit Families program had some unspent money, so WIC/Fit Families worked with the New Richmond School District and is assisting with their vegetable grow tower program. These funds helped provide education and equipment for 5 hydroponic grow towers. With this, they have been able to provide NR schools with lettuce for school lunches and the Backpack Program. Then Klasen went on to share that one of the big changes in 2025 was the approval of the Public Health Strategist position. She then introduced our new Public Health Strategist, Genevieve Palazzolo. Public Health Strategist, Genevieve Palazzolo then reviewed some of the other things she and the Public Health staff are working on. She went on to explain where county residents can find the work being done on the Community Health Assessment and Improvement Plan, which is out on the St. Croix County website. Palazzolo also shared information on some grants she is working on and discussed the implementation of a survey for county residents to complete regarding Know Your Water. Some questions asked and answered. 3. HHS Legislative Education Committee Updates Health and Human Services (HHS) Director Rohret provided an overview of the HHS Legislative Education Committee; its reason for creation, their goals, and some of the legislative issues they are monitoring. ADRC Administrator Kristin Newton is the chair of this committee and has been involved with the County Ambassadors Program (CAP) in Madison, along with the HHS Director, County Administrator, and some County Board Members. The tangible things the committee is working on are one-page easily understood documents that better inform on what policies could affect the various service areas in HHS. Also, HHS would like to have a better working relationship with our state and local representatives so we can inform them on how policies may affect HHS. The plan is to begin inviting our local representatives to St. Croix County Services Center to discuss our issues and concerns face to face with them or their staffers, and to hear from them on activity at the Capital. The hope is that this will happen quarterly in 2026. Questions and discussion followed. Request for Future Agenda Items Health and Human Services (HHS) Board Chair Greg Tellijohn asked for any future agenda item requests. There were no requests tonight. If items come up, board members are encouraged to contact Chair Tellijohn or HHS Director Bob Rohret. Announcements Health and Human Services (HHS) Board Chair Greg Tellijohn asked if there were any announcements tonight. *HHS Deputy Director Shar Lopez provided updates on grants received and how the funds are being used *HHS Director Rohret informed that Children Services received Like Kin grant funds to provide extra items to kids in foster care * Also announced was that HHS Board Member Dr. Kathleen Findley received the top provider of the year award from the Community of Baldwin. Congratulations! * HHS Board Chair Tellijohn shared that Ruby's Pop-up Pantry is back again tomorrow in New Richmond 4:30-7 Date of Next Meeting 1. Date of Next Meeting - January 21, 2026 Adjournment Health and Human Services (HHS) Board Chair Greg Tellijohn called this December 17, 2025 meeting of the Health and Human Services Board adjourned at approximately 5:30 PM. Happy Holidays to everyone!