Oneida County tightens its grip on HSC transition

Joining Vilas County — with Forest County expected to follow suit — the Oneida County Board of Supervisors amended Tuesday its 1984 joint human services agreement with those two counties, as the counties moved to strengthen their oversight and control of the Human Service Center (HSC) board.

In November, all three counties voted to terminate their contract with the HSC at the end of this year and created an oversight and transition panel to come up with a new structure to deliver statutory services next year. The HSC has been contracted with the three counties to provide statutorily mandated behavioral and developmental health services.

The counties also hired a consultant — Robert Cork — to carry out a feasibility study, and a report on restructuring is expected in March.

But, according to discussions in Vilas County, amendments to the original operating agreement were needed in the meantime, in part because the HSC board — established in 1984 as the agency’s board of directors — had questions about the powers of the transition panel. 

From another perspective, however, contained in the resolution considered by the Oneida County board, the amendments were sought in part because “the Tri-County Human Service Board has not abided by the direction provided by the three counties as set forth in the County Transition Panel Resolutions.”

Whatever the prompt, the amendments passed Tuesday not only clarified the counties’ intentions and the transition panel’s powers, they effectively tightened the counties’ grip on the current HSC board and what it can and cannot do as the transition takes place.

On Tuesday, Oneida County social services director Mary Rideout told Oneida County supervisors that there were four changes proposed to the agreement. The first involved legal counsel, limiting the HSC board to obtaining legal advice from the three county corporation counsels, as opposed to retaining its own outside counsel.

“So currently the Human Service Center hires legal counsel for things that are outside of the court system — anything within the court system the local corporation counsel handles them — but other legal questions are handled by outside counsel,” Rideout said. “We are requesting to change that to the corporation counsels for the three counties.”

Rideout said that would allow for a smooth transition to a new structure. 

“It allows the three corporation counsels to address any issues, to work toward consensus, and notify their individual county board,” she said. “This also eliminates any unnecessary legal expenses.”

The second change is around the appointment of an HSC executive director.

“The change requires the approval of the three county boards for subsequent employment of an executive director of the Human Service Center,” Rideout said. “This is being requested to give the three county boards direct authority to approve the appointment of the new executive director should that position become vacant.”

Rideout said the role of the HSC executive director is critical to the success of any transition.

“It is therefore critical for the county boards to have a say in the selection and any hiring, if needed,” she said.

The third change revolved around the oversight and transition committee created by the county boards last November.

“This is being requested to clarify the county’s position that the Oversight Transition Committee has the authority delegated to it in the resolution previously passed by the three county boards,” she said. “The oversight transition committee’s purpose is to ensure a smooth transition, to communicate directly with the county boards through a monthly report, to review assets and liabilities, review contracts and ensure sufficient funds and staffing to maintain services in 2024 and beyond.”

The fourth change concerned compensation packages, Rideout said.

“This change prohibits the [the HSC board] from passing any changes to any compensation packages, including retention or severance, not previously presented to the county boards in the 2024 budget,” she said. “This provision was also included in the previous resolution that created the oversight transition panel.”

Rideout said compensation packages will affect the future operations and services provided by the three counties and therefore should not be approved without that consideration.

“Severance packages, if warranted, should be reviewed and approved within the context of the transition to a new structure, and hopefully that won’t be necessary,” she said. 

Rideout said the proposed changes to the agreement had been submitted to the Department of Health Services (DHS), as required by law. She said the changes had not yet been approved, but that an DHS attorney didn’t see any issues.

“We’re waiting for that approval from the state, but we anticipate that it will come,” she said. 

Finally, Rideout said, she thought it was important for the county boards to remember that ultimately they are responsible for the services the Human Service Center provides.

“So ultimately it’s your responsibility and I think this just gives you that direct access to information as we go through whatever transition may transpire in the next couple of months,” she said.

During the board discussion, Rideout stressed that the transition panel did not replace the HSC board. 

“The Human Service Center board is designated in statute,” she said. “So the Oversight Transition Committee is an additional level of oversight to assist in the transition. But the Human Service Center board still has responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the Human Service Center as approved by the county boards through their 2024 budget.”

How long a transition?

As there was in Vilas County, there was some discussion about how long the transition would last. Rideout said it ultimately depended on what structure was chosen.

“It’s not like on January 1 we flip a switch and everything’s different,” she said. “It will take planning and I would anticipate years of fully getting to our end goal.”

That doesn’t mean the transition oversight committee would linger indefinitely, Rideout said.

“But I think once we have a structure established and we get through those major items, then I think the Transition Oversight Committee would be done,” she said. “I would anticipate they would go into 2025 for sure.”

Rideout said the agreement being amended ends December 31, 2024, and the county would be entering a new structure where the continuation of the transition committee would be addressed, and again the specifics of governance and oversight would depend on the structure chosen.

“It [the transition committee] will get us through the transition,” she said. “And then, as an example, if we go to a human service department, you will have then a human service board that would oversee the operation. Then you would go to that structure. So a transition oversight committee is really going to get you through any transition. We’re going from here to here. And like I said, that might go into 2025, but I don’t see it going on much beyond that.”

Needed until it’s not

Supervisor Steven Schreier, who serves on the HSC board, added that committees created by the county board, such as the HSC transition panel, are really extensions of the board itself and exist until they are no longer needed, as decided by the county board.

“So we decide basically, fundamentally, and there’s probably a good reason why we didn’t put specific language in that resolution when we created it because we don’t know when we created the resolution even what structure we’re going to adopt,” Schreier said. “So it would be a little foolhardy to put in there, to let’s say mid-2025, this is all over.”

It could take a couple of years, Schreier said.

“I think we’re just being both practical and flexible on the whole thing,” he said. “I agree that I would not want any body we created to just go on indefinitely, but in my mind it exists for as long as we need it during the transition. I don’t think it’s going to have as much direct influence after mid- to late next year as it does right now because this is the crucial transition period of time.”

Supervisor Ted Cushing, who has been an HSC board member for years, said it saddened him how everything had played out — how long it had taken to develop the agreement, the need to hire a consultant. He said that all the parties had to do was sit down and talk and come up with an agreement.  

“It is rather painful for me to see this happen this way, but I understand what we have to do,” he said. “We have to make sure our clients are taken care of. That’s priority number one. And it’s not going to be all that simple. We’ve already lost, I don’t know, 12 or 13 people and I know it’s going to take some effort to try to fill out these positions.”

But Cushing said he was voting for the amendments.

“It had to be done,” he said. “And we have the contract now and it’s not going to change.”

The vote was 19-1 to pass the amendments, with HSC board member and county supervisor Linnaea Newman voting against.

Richard Moore is the author of “Dark State” and may be reached at richardd3d.substack.com.