Caledonia Argus

More paperwork added to human services department

Posted: 12/23/03

By Shannon McKinney
Argus News Reporter

Paperwork for the Houston County Social Services Department has increased in areas of child safety and permanency.

Permanency refers to the goal of the state to have children in a permanent home within six to 12 months of them being placed outside their home.

The issue was discussed at the Houston County Human Services Departmentís monthly meeting on Tuesday, December 16 at the courthouse in Caledonia.

An audit in 2001 of the Minnesota Department of Childrenís Family and Learning (MDCFL) by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services revealed that Minnesota needed improvement in those two areas. Minnesotaís performance in meeting criteria was based on cases taken from three counties.

Social Services Supervisor Karen Meier-Wills said Minnesota is making an effort to work on what the state did not do well at. ìThe state said we (the state as a whole) did not do a great job at assessing the needs of the children,î said Meier-Wills.

In response, the state has developed special tools to assist counties in assessing certain needs. One tool, for example, is a worksheet that is several pages in length and is used to assess an individualís mental health needs.

ìItís nice when you have a little extra guidance,î said Meier-Wills.

Human Services director Beth Wilms said the increased workload is stressing some of the employees. She referred to one case worker who has completed more mental health commitments in the last three weeks than was done in the last 10 years.

Due to budget cutting last year, a case worker position was not replaced after it was vacated. However, Wilms said, it will eventually have to be filled to alleviate the amount of paperwork staff is doing. ìWe need to be people centered. We hate to cut conversations short because you have to get back to the office to do paperwork. Itís counterproductive to social work,î she said.

New program is challenging

Houston County recently received a new program from the state that requires extra time on the computer inputting data relating to accountability. Meier-Wills said staff is struggling to learn the new system. ìPart of it is that itís brand new and we need to get trained,î she explained.

Commissioner Kevin Kelleher questioned the increased accountability aspect.

Meier-Wills explained that certain elements of their work need to be documented now. ìThereís an added time frame. Like if we responded to a child welfare risk within 24 hours, three days or five days. Itís stuff we were doing before, now it has to be documented,î she said.

Interns to start in January

Two interns from Winona State University will start in social services in January and work 30 hours a week for five weeks.

It is hoped that they will alleviate some of the workload from staff.

MFIP update

Bonnie Goetzinger, financial assistant supervisor, reported that the department has received several thousand dollars from a statewide reward for making very few food stamp errors.

The board approved her request to purchase two new computers with the money.

Goetzinger said there are 101 families currently on Minnesota Families Investment Program (MFIP). Of that number, eight are in 30 percent sanction, which occurs when an a client no longer complies with the conditions of receiving financial assistant from MFIP. They receive a 30 percent reduction of their cash grant.

Top of Page