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Health spending report issued
By MONICA LUNDQUIST Cass County Correspondent WALKER -- Health, Human and Veterans Services Director Dorothy Opheim and the HHVS supervisory staff reported Tuesday to the county board on changes made in that department during 2004 and services provided to county residents.
HHVS eliminated six employee positions as a part of 2004 county budget cuts, Opheim said.
She reported the transition to HHVS management for the senior transportation program went well. An average 31 drivers per month drove 1,714 riders 117,973 miles in 2004 to medical appointments. There were 19 new drivers and 88 new riders signed up for the program, Opheim said.
Riders paid $5,276.50 toward the program, keeping the 2004 cost at $43,137, well under the $50,000 budgeted, she said.
Adult social services staff completed 195 court ordered chemical dependency assessments, Opheim said. Leech Lake Reservation closed the detoxification service at Cass Lake, shifting clients to Pine Manor, Northland Recovery and Dakota Receiving, she said.
Brainerd Regional Treatment Center continued to provide outpatient chemical dependency treatment at Pine River.
Six developmentally disabled people moved into adult foster care homes, reducing the county placement costs for these people and increasing state funding to the county to manage their care.
Stille Havn Haus opened in 2004 in Walker, providing a new home for 16 mentally ill residents who previously resided in such facilities as Ah-Gwah-Ching and Brainerd Regional Human Services Center.
Jamie Richter, adult health supervisor, reported state legislative changes to the Alternative Care Program in 2002 led 25 people to drop home care services in 2004. A higher co-pay is now required as well as liens against clients houses, she said.
More people are choosing to apply to receive payments to care for family members in their own home, she said. The number of people screened for long-term care services from nursing homes decreased for those over 65 in 2004, but increased for those under age 65.
Senior health clinics continue to attract large numbers of people for health screening and assessment, health education and foot care, Richter said. A county health nurse provided an average of 23 hours a week in services to Cass County jail inmates. The county gave 870 flu shots to people at six clinics in 2004, about half the number served the prior year due to the shortage of vaccine, according to Richter.
Joan Helms, children's social services supervisor, reported 1,543 social service intakes processed in 2004. Two child protection workers processed 122 alleged child maltreatment reports and 73 other situations in 2004, Helms said. Child protection and child welfare workers processed 878 cases, with only a minority of the cases requiring placing children outside their family setting to ensure safety, Helms said.
She reported the truancy social worker covers 14 schools Cass County residents attend. As of this week, he has 202 active cases, with 34 on a waiting list. Opheim said she will recommend hiring a temporary worker for up to 67 days to help manage this growing caseload and will propose to the 2006 budget committee increasing support staff.
Children's mental health provided services to 75 children whose family signed acceptance forms before receiving services, Helms said. There currently are 33 foster family homes and 40 adult homes providing foster care services in Cass.
The county will seek adoptions for seven children whose parents' rights have been terminated. Helms said the county provided an independent living skills course for 31 teenagers who have been in out-of-home placements.
Linda Nye, child support collections supervisor, reported the amount the county collects from non-custodial parents and pays to parents who have custody of their children increased from $945,000 10 years ago to $2,281,876 in 2004. There were 1,706 child support cases as of Jan. 4. Staff processed 200 new cases in 2004.
Under legislative changes that go into effect July 1, Nye said the state no longer will assist with collecting cases involving only alimony to the spouse and will charge custodial parents a 1 percent collection fee unless their children receive public assistance.
The collections unit also seeks reimbursements to the county from public assistance overpayments, estate claims, for detoxification services and for out-of-home placement. The county admitted 211 people to detoxification services in 2004, costing the county $110,750, of which $8,706 was recovered from the clients.
Ane Rogers, family health services, reported county health nurses made 704 visits to 463 clients in 2004, providing prenatal, postpartum, family planning, parenting, premature infant, pediatric, child and teen checkup and accident prevention services. A grant helps nurses offer pregnant women assistance to reduce alcohol use during their pregnancy.
The nurses also saw an average of 758 clients at Women Infant and Children program clinics last year, where under a grant, the nurses also were able to provide dental care education and referral services in 2004. The county has 136 active clients in a program to help track children's development through age 3.
Cass received a suicide prevention grant to provide education through schools.
Rogers said the county provided 908 doses of general immunizations to 446 children at 85 clinics in 2004 and 44 pediatric flu shots. County nurses expect to increase the number of flu shots this year to be made available to children unless there is another unexpected vaccine shortage in 2005.
Because Cass exceeded goals set for transitioning people from benefit programs to employment, Brenda Erickson, income maintenance supervisor, said her department has seen an increase in applications for child-care benefits for working parents.
She said the fraud prevention unit received 147 referrals in 2004. Investigations saved the county from paying $52,631 in excess benefit payments and resulted in $25,209 in overpayments being identified. Investigations of 31 active cases led to another $12,570 in overpayments being identified. The county recovered $8,335 through court action and $4,235 through civil recoveries.
Faye Dudley, veterans services officer, reported the number of veterans in the county is declining due to deaths of World War II veterans. Currently, there are 3,761 veterans in the county, down 347 from 2003.
Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs State Soldiers Assistance Program also paid $18,282.56 to 93 Cass veterans and their dependents in 2004 for dental, optical and short-term disability subsistence.
She said young veterans returning from active service abroad today are waiting to file for future benefits. The longer they wait, she said, the more difficult it becomes to trace back to service-connected eligibility situations.
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