MAYOR’S HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES GRAND FORKS CABINET MINUTES Thursday, July 17, 2008 I. CALL MEETING TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at approximately 12:10 p.m. by Don Shields. Those Members Present: Don Shields, Keith Berger, Gretchen Graf, Jack Kerbeshian, Lee Lipp, Mark Lambrecht, Dr. James Hargreaves, Karen Schelinder, John Packett, Peter O’Neill, and Julie Anderson. Others present: Lt Col Randy Nedegaard (GFAFB), Peggy Kurtz (Community Development), Randy Slavens (NE Human Service Center), and Keith Westerfield (Public Health). II. OLD BUSINESS 1. Review and Approval of Minutes of April 17, 2008 Meeting: Minutes were reviewed and approved with no changes. 2. Grand Forks “Detox” Community Facility Initiative Update - Northeast Human Service Center (NEHSC): - Randy S. briefed (for Kate Kenna) that the GF “Detox” Facility is the #1 recommendation of the Homeless (Initiative) Plan (see below). There is a $100,000 shortfall (of a $250,000 budget) of what is needed to open and maintain operation (annually). The city stated they would commit $70,000, NEHSC $70,000 (annually), and the county generously donated space in the old county jail building. - Based on NEHSC budgeting process (and that the governor is looking at cuts in their budget), if they have this program up and running before next July, then it would be considered a ‘continuation’ project. If not, then they would have to go back to the drawing board for funding, since it wouldn’t be an existing service. Legislature can be unpredictable in support, session to session. - Need to get more community involvement in the program. The community needs to be made aware that one or two agencies can not maintain that project. Is the community really ready for this? Bismarck is committed to this, and there’s good support for these. In Fargo, the city funds their entire program, because most people that utilize the Detox center there lives within the city limits (anyone outside the city limits are assessed $70-80 a day for operating rates). They recoup that from smaller counties. - NEHSC can’t roll that into their budget. Right now, they’ve been operating detox with a contract with Glenmore, which they are paying a sizable amount. Altru will not be able to help with funding, since they currently have losses greater than that, and it is easier to write off those losses than to come up with the funding. III. NEW BUSINESS 1. Grand Forks Long-Term Homelessness Initiative Presentation – Community Development. - Peggy K. provided a handout on ‘Local Strategies to End Long Term Homelessness’. - Long-Term Homelessness, as it is defined in this initiative, occurs when someone with a disabling condition is homeless for a very long time; continuously homeless 4 or more times in a 3-year period. A ‘disabling condition’ is described as mental illness, chronic or physical disability, or diagnosable substance-abuse disorder. Nationwide, long-term homelessness comprises of only 10% of the homeless population, but consume over 50% of the dollars spent on homelessness. - Last year marked the 20th Anniversary of creation of the McKinney Act, which developed a federal commitment in resources for homelessness. President Bush’s Administration renewed this commitment, but wanted to focus on ending long-term homelessness because they knew that they could end long-term homelessness. Governor Hoeven responded to this by establishing the ND Interagency Council on Homelessness. He charged this committee with developing the state plan for ND, but they couldn’t do that until the cities brought their own plans in (cities with population over 7,000 needed to do that). So far, eight cities, including Turtle Mountain Reservation (only reservation in the nation to turn in a plan), have submitted a plan for homelessness. Mayor’s Health and Human Services Grand Forks Cabinet Minutes July 17, 2008 Page 2 - A ‘Stakeholders’ group of about 30 service agencies (made up of government, private, profit, and non-profit groups) that deal with homelessness issues was formed. They looked at the nation-wide data (lots) and ND data (little), and came up with a workable plan. In April 2008, the council adopted a resolution (see attachment) to use the plan as a guide, in dealing with long-term homelessness specific to Grand Forks. - Available local data comes from an annual ‘Point-In-Time’ survey done on one day in January, by the ND Coalition for Homeless People of service providers. They recommend though that an in-depth survey in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks be done. They use this information so they can focus resources on what the problems really are. - They found out that 21% of Grand Forks homeless population falls into the long-term homelessness category—that’s higher than the national average. Two-thirds of this group have either mental illness and/or a chemical dependency, 90% were single adults, and 90% were homeless for an average of three years. Also discovered was most of the services for housing stability (what makes someone not homeless) already exists in Grand Forks, except for a social detox, which happens that another group was meeting at the same time about a detox center, led by Kate Kenna (Grand Forks Detox Community Facility Initiative). - What is being done so far? -- First step to end long-term homelessness was to develop a plan, which they’ve done. -- Peer support is important, so Prairie Harvest is training some of their clients to be peer specialists, to help their fellow clients. -- There is a high cost for getting a homeless person into an apartment. United Way is providing individual grants with their ‘Starting Out Right’ program, or funding security deposits. -- United Way is also providing funding for The Village, which provides Money Management classes and programs. -- A preference for services (bring long-term homelessness to head of class for services). - What still needs to be done? -- Social detox is top of the list. Altru had in a 12-month period, 132 people admitted for acute intoxication alone, with most of them staying less than 48 hours, with 11% of those have been admitted five or more times. They can’t ‘sleep it off’ at the jail unless they have violated a law, and the Grand Forks Mission will not let someone stay there if they are intoxicated. -- This approach has not produced good results, plus it is costly (law enforcement and medical costs for emergency personnel) -- A social detox would decrease; medical costs, law enforcement costs, and more importantly, provide opportunity for prevention of this highest cost in human lives. - There is a shortage of licensed addiction counselors state-wide, and this creates long waiting lists for evaluation or treatment. Long-term homeless people don’t have a lot of time to sit on a waiting list. - Annual ‘Homeless Connect’ event—a ‘one-stop’ shop for the homeless. Bring all the services that someone would need to not be homeless; photo IDs, clothing, food, blood pressure screening, hygiene giveaways, social security screenings, VA benefits, foot care, vision care, haircuts, job employment, health assessment, etc. An excellent form of outreach, where the homeless is considered a consumer. 2. Disaster Recovery – St. Bernard Parish Louisiana Visit, Jun 11-15 – Don S. and Lee Lipp briefed on the Louisiana Disaster Recovery visit to Grand Forks by the St. Bernard Parish. - The parish had 65,000 people living there before the hurricane, and only 31,000 after it. - The parish’s income came from sales tax, not property tax, so with the dropping of retail establishments there, so did their income. - Three years after the hurricane, they are only at where Grand Forks was at 90-120 days after our flood. This was mainly due to the people there were thinking that the state was going to offer them a $150,000 buyout for their homes, so why fix it them up. Mayor’s Health and Human Services Grand Forks Cabinet Minutes July 17, 2008 Page 3 - During the visit, many city/county departments and community agencies, spent the afternoon talking to them about how decisions were made in Grand Forks, and went through a ‘play-by-play’ scenario (when the water was this level, this is how decisions were made, etc). There were meetings in Grand Forks that involved the community, people got angry, but whether they liked it or not, decisions were made. That has not happened in St. Bernard’s parish. The difference in what happened in Grand Forks, and what happen in Louisiana, is the decisiveness of the decision-making (they do not have that there). The feeling in the community there is that there is nothing being decided, nothing being done. - Also there was a difference in anchors that we had, and what they had (the police, health, and fire department, the hospital and school system). The decision of our schools to start in the fall after the flood forced everyone to get back together into a structure, so that anchor in our community was important. In contrast, in St. Bernard, their school system is still not integrated, and one of their main school programs moved to another community. - The community there doesn’t seem to have much accessibility to general mental health, to deal with post-stress, since the hospital there closed. With community and city funds, they are trying to build/ reopen a hospital. They were offered the services of Altru on how do you figure out; what kind of funding, service costs, and billing. NEHSC’s Kate Kenna was also involved with the visit. 3. Member Update: Julie A. – The university is looking for a healthy enrollment this fall. The College of Nursing has just opened up a new Simulation Center. The Evaluation Behavior Research building is moving in August, with Indian Gambling research. The nursing shortage in ND isn’t really bad as previously thought, maybe just a distribution problem. However, there is a sever faculty shortage. Starting a Post-Bacculate degree program in January, but only 16 slots. Enrollment in their Masters degree program has doubled from last year. Congratulations to Julie who was just appointed as new Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies at the College of Nursing. Lt Col Nedegaard - There has been new leadership changes, as the base got a new Base Commander, Colonel John Michel. He’s very energetic and community-focused. His goal is to be more involved with the downtown community. Pete O. - Would like to host the Mayor’s meeting at the new Public Safety building (Fire and Police Department training), and give a tour of the new facility later this fall. Gretchen G. – In the six weeks, been involved with refugees resettlement. They are expecting 70 refugees this summer. Peggy K. – If anyone is interested in being involved with the Homelessness Initiative, give her a call. Karen S. – Not only have the homeless population to work with, but also looking at the working poor, who are another population. They are seeing parents coming in who can’t buy their kids school clothes, due to rising gas and food prices. Their needs are always there, and their numbers are going to go up. Keith B. – The Community Dental Clinic now has two dentists (who takes Medicaid and people without insurance). They are currently booked up a month to six weeks in advance. Randy S. – There is now a permanent Case Manager at NEHSC, Diana Willis-Wanschaffe (was case manager for the Prairie Harvest Homes). Mayor’s Health and Human Services Grand Forks Cabinet Minutes July 17, 2008 Page 4 IV. OTHER: None V. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned around 1:15 p.m. VI. NEXT MEETING: Thursday, October 16, 2008 12:00 noon – 1:30 p.m. (lunch will be provided by Altru Health System) Altru Hospital (Lower Level, Multi-Media/Board Room) MEETING HANDOUTS: - Local Strategies to End Long-Term Homelessness Handout - Mayor’s Cabinet Members Listing, July 2008 - Resolution, 10-Year Plan to End Long-Term Homelessness, 21 April 2008