News – Fort Adult Care Consortium

October 2019 Meeting Notice

Yes, Fall is rapidly sliding into Wisconsin, just in time for the October meeting of the Fort Adult Care Consortium, coming on Tuesday, October 15th, at 10:00 AM at the Dwight Foster Public Library, 209 Merchant Street in Fort Atkinson, WI.

Our primary topic will be the ongoing effort to standardize and update the County’s zoning rules, which will affect the specifics here in Fort. We have some proposed changes that we’ll discuss and forward to everyone, but if you’d like your voice to be heard, attend Tuesday’s meeting.

Copies of the agenda for the meeting are available on the /Documents page, as well as the proposed draft text we’ve assembled so far. While you’re browsing the Document resourses page, check out the minutes from our previous meetings, available for your download there, as well.

Online participation in the monthly meeting is also available, although we will still have a limit to the number that can participate using the web conferencing option, so please contact us directly if you’d like to participate this month, so we can walk you through the technical requirements for this process, and include you in our planned count.

December 2018 Meeting Notice

The December meeting of the Fort Adult Care Consortium will take place on Tuesday, December 11th, at 10:00 AM at the Dwight Foster Public Library, 209 Merchant Street in Fort Atkinson, WI. This month, we are moving forward with the likely termination of the Adult Care moratorium at the end of the year, and looking at how will this affect your business plans for 2019. We’ll look at some of the possible new forms and update details you’ll need to understand to comply with the new ordinance. A copy of the approved Ordinance, effective January 1, 2019, will also be distributed.

Copies of the agenda for the meeting and the minutes from our previous meetings are available for download in the Documents area.

NOTE: It is possible that members of and possibly a quorum of other governmental bodies of the municipality may be in attendance at the above stated meeting to gather information; however, no action will be taken by any governmental body at the above stated meeting other than the governmental body specifically referred to above in this notice.

83.15 CBRF Administrator Course – October 2018

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	10/9/2018 to 10/25/2018
When:	10/09/2018 8:00 AM
Where:	Map this event » Country Inn & Suites 1250 S. Moorland Road Brookfield, Wisconsin 53005 United States
Contact:	Amanda Ryan aryan@ewala.org (608) 442-0376

Lunch & Learn: A Management & Medication Series

B. Davis Directions and Prescriptions Plus have teamed up again to offer you a FREE LUNCH and an opportunity to walk away with education and understanding of the RN role for the medication management program in assisted living.

This FREE 1 hour session will provide medication information such as:

The RN’s role in oversight of the medication program including regulation requirements and quality assurance
Understanding nurse delegation requirements

And management points of interest such as:

Hiring the right RN for the assisted living environment
Successfully onboarding the RN to the AL world

Space is limited! Register today at bdavis@bdavisdirections.com for this FREE opportunity in your neighborhood. Attendees will receive one hour of continuing education for this session.

Dates: November 6, Drumlin Residence, Cottage Grove

November 8, Clement Manor, Greenfield

Time: 12 – 1 pm.

October 25th Free Dementia Caregiving Conference in Juneau

Our House Cambridge Oktoberfest Networking Event on 10/24

WALA Issues New Legislative Budget Request on the Workforce Crisis

Friday, September 7, 2018

Wisconsin’s long-term care providers were successful last year with having our state elected officials take notice of the caregiver shortage crisis and the need for greater funding in Wisconsin’s long-term care program, Family Care. While providers are thankful for the Direct Care Workforce funding increases included in the 2017-19 state budget, those increases do not offset the rate cuts or freezes that providers have experienced over the past five years. Therefore, Wisconsin’s long-term care provider community (including WALA) is asking the Legislature to invest $61.7 million in the upcoming (2019-21) biennial budget (please see attached). This request includes the funding increases provided in the 2017-19 state budget along with an additional $61.7 million. If our request is approved, it would allow financial stability for providers to increase caregiver wages.

WALA is actively advocating on your behalf and we will keep you posted on these efforts. If you have any questions, please let us know.

For more details, read PDF below.
PDF of this Request

DHS Identifies Supervision As a Growing Problem in AL Facilities

News & Press: Regulatory

DHS Identifies Supervision As a Growing Problem in AL Facilities
Sunday, August 19, 2018 (0 Comments)
Posted by: Sarah Bass

From Forbes McIntosh, Government Policy Solutions, WALA Lobbyist

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services Division of Quality Assurance Bureau of Assisted Living has seen an increasing number of program services violations by assisted living facilities in the area of lack of supervision, specifically related to elopements and sexual assaults, BAL Director Alfred Johnson said during last week’s Assisted Living Forum in Madison.

He said sexual assault reports most often are resident-on-resident and should be reported to police for criminal investigation first.

A survey of the facility might then be conducted by DHS surveyors – and Johnson reviewed the DHS survey process with Assisted Living Forum participants. During a survey, assisted living surveyors evaluate a facility’s performance and compliance with applicable laws and standards in the areas of resident rights, program services, nutrition and food service, physical environment and safety, medication, and staff training.

The survey visits might be unannounced/unscheduled and would include a meeting with staff in charge and a sampling of residents, conducting a tour of the facility, interviewing family members, reviewing records and reviewing safety code compliance, among other things.

Johnson said DHS staff will not conduct a review or survey of a facility without a specific complaint. For example, if a resident’s family member from out of state calls DHS to say their parent does not seem to be doing well and the facility might be to blame, that is not specific enough to prompt an investigation by DHS.

Johnson did note that the majority of complaints filed against AL facilities come from resident family members.

One forum participant shared that in her experience, a facility can reduce the number of complaints filed just by communicating more with residents and their family members, especially in a proactive manner. She said she occasionally reaches out to family members via phone just to check in to see how things are going for their loved one at the facility and it has made a difference in reducing conflicts.

DHS Has Updated the Background Information Disclosure Form

From DHS, Division of Quality Assurance

The Department of Health Services, Division of Quality Assurance (DQA) has revised the Background Information Disclosure (BID) form F-82064. License applicants, employees, contractors and non-client residents must complete the BID form as part of the required caregiver background check process.

The Caregiver Law, under Wis. Stat. § 50.065 require regulated facilities/entities to complete two types of caregiver background checks:

Those completed by employers on their employees and contractors at the time of hire.
Those completed by DQA as part of the licensure process for a DQA regulated health care facility on license applicants/ license holders, some principal officers, and non-client residents.

Entities must maintain the background check documents for each employee or contractor. The records must be readily available to DQA staff upon request. Refer to the Caregiver Background Check Process webpage for complete information regarding the employee background check process and the license holder background check process.

Please email the Office of Caregiver Quality if you have any questions.

DHS Offers Tools To Prevent Social Media Caregiver Misconduct

From DHS, DQA, Office of Caregiver Quality

The following resources have been developed for use by facilities to raise awareness among staff in order to prevent occurrences of caregiver misconduct through the use of handheld devices:

Social Media Awareness Poster – Snapping Pics Puts Your Job at Risk, P-01964 (PDF) – DHS recommends facilities place this poster in a location that is designated for employees only, such as an employee break room.

Social Media Awareness – Snapping Pics Puts Your Job at Risk, P-01933 (PDF) – DHS recommends facilities distribute this brochure to new and existing employees (e.g., upon new employee hire, during annual refresher trainings on abuse/neglect).

Snapping Pics Puts Your Job At Risk (Livestream, help) –This video depicts a scenario of a caregiver who is contemplating taking a picture of a peacefully sleeping resident to share with her co-worker. It highlights the potential consequences of this action, including being suspended from her job and being placed on the Caregiver Misconduct Registry.

Animated Infographic (Livestream, help) –This two minute informational video highlights what happens when a possible incident of caregiver misconduct occurs. DHS recommends this video be used as a follow up to the Snapping Pics Puts Your Job At Risk video.