June 10, 2021 at 1:12 p.m.
Cass County health and social service intake system streamlined
Applicants for health services or social services now can apply for either of those services or both through filling out one application with one intake person. They no longer have to go to multiple employees to apply for multiple services, Muller said.
This not only is helpful for applicants, but has helped employees to better know all the services the county offers and more quickly make referrals to the appropriate services, Muller added.
It saves employee time and client time, she said.
Cass is the only county in this region of the state to currently offer this integrated service concept. The only services not currently under this integrated program are children's mental health and child protection.
Health, human and veterans services also hopes to add veterans services to the integrated application system in the future when state computer systems make that possible, they said.
Leslie Bouchonville, Pine River/Backus Family Center director, and Stacey McKinney, home visitor for Northland Family Center at Remer, reported to the county board Tuesday on the success they have seen with a program to visit first-time parents in their homes to help them become successful parents.
Family Centers at Pillager, Pine River and Remer offer this program. Cass County Health Services has started to have county health nurses offer first-time parent visits at Walker. Leech Lake Reservation is considering starting a similar program at Cass Lake.
The family center program is available to any first-time moms and dads. Average participant age is 20, though the program serves many teen parents and has served someone as old as 36.
The program goal is to help parents go through this new experience with someone who can help them understand what to expect during pregnancy and as their child develops to age three. Bouchonville said new mothers may not have had a good example in their own home of how to be a good parent.
This program can help make the next generation of parents more successful with creating a good home, she said.
More than 100 first-time teen parents, half of them dads, have participated in the family center programs the last six years, Bouchonville said.
Of the 42 families currently in the family center home visit program, 83 percent had babies born a healthy weight (5.6 to 8.7 pounds), she said. All but two families are up to date on immunizations. One chose not to immunize. Another cannot immunize the baby because of medical issues, she said.
Children are 22 times more likely to be at risk for neglect or maltreatment if they live in poverty, Bouchonville said. In Cass County, 43 percent of maltreatment reports are for children under age 5.
This program is designed to prevent that.
McKinney cited one young pregnant girl she served, who was unsure whether she wanted to carry her baby to birth, because she was very young and she did not consider her parents' home a good option for raising her baby.
In the end, McKinney's home visits helped her continue to stick with her decision to quit alcohol and drugs that she made when she found out she was pregnant. The visits helped her through her pregnancy.
The home visitor helped the mom to resources that identified the baby was blind. McKinney helped her find resources to help the child adapt to life without vision.
Today, the mom has been drug- and alcohol-free for three years. She has earned a certified nursing assistant degree and is employed. Her baby is thriving, McKinney reported.
Health, Human and Veterans Services (HHVS) Director Reno Wells reported a screening team will interview the six veterans services officer candidates May 24.
That team includes Wells, who is a veteran, Business Management Director Melanie Wolfe (who also is immediate supervisor of the veterans services), Administrator Robert Yochum and veteran representatives to the HHVS citizen advisory committee Don Fowler, Backus, and Wayne LaDuke, Cass Lake.
Jeff Woodford, assistant veterans services officer, reported Tuesday to the county board that 18 veterans met with a veterans service representative in the Backus office and nine with a representative in the Walker office in April. One to three veterans met with a representative in each satellite office during April.
Woodford, in his first meeting with the county board since he was hired in early February, informed the board he began veterans service officer training in the Twin Cities the day after his hire.
He said he grew up in Walker and now lives in Hackensack. He graduated from Walker High School and Bemidji State University and served 16.5 months in Iraq with the National Guard. He worked for Hubbard County before coming to Cass.
Wells reported Cass will receive an $80,000 Minnesota Department of Human Services grant to operate a regional social services fraud prevention program for Cass, Hubbard, Todd and Wadena Counties from July 2013 through June 30, 2015. Second publication rights after Brainerd Dispatch.
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