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Given the impact of Covid-19 and the associated staffing crisis, the Fort Adult Care Consortium has elected to suspend all future activity, effective October 1, 2020. In the event that conditions warrant reactivating the group, the members of the group will issue more information at that time.

It has been our privilege to serve the Adult Care providers of the Fort Atkinson area, to aid them as they strive to provide the best quality care for the residents of our area, and we hope that the results of our efforts will continue to have a positive impact on our area for years to come.

The February 2020 meeting of the Fort Adult Care Consortium will take place next Tuesday, Februrary 11th, at 10:00 AM at the Dwight Foster Public Library, 209 Merchant Street in Fort Atkinson, WI. Online participation in the monthly meeting is available. If you’d like to participate this month, contact us directly in advance, so we can walk you through the technical requirements for this process.

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 Documents page, check out the minutes from our previous meetings, available for your download there, as well. All that is required is that you create an account and login to view the items.

See you Tuesday!

Here’s your reminder that the January meeting of the Fort Adult Care Consortium will take place next Tuesday, January 10th, at 10:00 AM at the Dwight Foster Public Library, 209 Merchant Street in Fort Atkinson, WI. If there is a last minute change due to inclement weather, we’ll post an update here on the FACC

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 Documents page, check out the minutes from our previous meetings, available for your download there, as well. All that is required is that you create an account and login to view the items.

Online participation in the monthly meeting is available. If you’d like to participate this month, contact us directly in advance, so we can walk you through the technical requirements for this process and include you in our planned count.

Today, the Fort Adult Care Consortium announced their 2020 meeting schedule. In general, FACC meets on the second Tuesday of each month (except May’s meeting on the third Tuesday) at 10 AM at the Dwight Foster Public Library, located at 209 Merchants Ave, Fort Atkinson, WI. Most meetings will offer a training component, and the 2020 Training Schedule will be published in January.

Our 2020 meeting dates are: January 14, February 11, March 10, April 14, May 19 (3rd Tuesday), June 9, July 14, August 11, September 8, October 13, November 10, and December 8.

Here’s your timely reminder about the November meeting of the Fort Adult Care Consortium, coming on Tuesday, November 12th, at 10:00 AM at the Dwight Foster Public Library, 209 Merchant Street in Fort Atkinson, WI.

Our primary goal will be to complete the ongoing recommendations to the Council’s effort to standardize and update the County’s zoning rules, which will again affect the Adult Care specifics here in Fort. We’ve been working through the language and have a finalized version of the proposed changes to discuss. If you’d like your voice to be heard on these changes, 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 Documents 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 in advance 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.

Do you remember the catch-phrase from the sequel to the movie JAWS — “Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water”? Most of you know that we’ve just completed the Zoning update process with the city of Fort Atkinson. Now, Jefferson County has announced their intention to update county-wide standards (as directed by the state), some of which will most likely override some of the City changes. That means that we may be revisiting (and potentially changing) the recommendations we just made to the City Council. The initial information we’ve received from the City is posted to the /Documents page here for your participation.

Please read through the material and come prepared to discuss at the August meeting of the Fort Adult Care Consortium, taking place next Tuesday, August 13th, at 10:00 AM at the Dwight Foster Public Library, 209 Merchant Street in Fort Atkinson, WI. Copies of the agenda for the meeting are attached to this message, and the minutes from our previous meetings are available for download on the FACC website listed below. This month, we will still have a limit to the number that can participate using the web conferencing option (which we expect to lift shortly), so please contact me directly if you’d like to participate this month, so I can walk you through the technical requirements for this process, and include you in our planned count.

An article in the Daily Jefferson County Union reports that police departments nationwide are spending more and more time responding to calls involving people affected by mental health disorders. This is especially true in Fort Atkinson due to the city’s assortment of group homes and community-based residential facilities. Between 5 percent and 15 percent of all police calls involve a person with a mental health disorder. 

Fort Atkinson Police Chief Adrian Bump said that locally, the issue isn’t the percentage of calls that deal with mental health, but, rather, how long they can take: handling a call of a person who might be a danger to him or herself or others can take six hours of officer time under the best circumstances; in many other cases, it can take 12 to 17 hours.

As a way to be better equipped to handle these calls, the Fort Atkinson Police Department recently completed the One Mind Campaign, a program through the International Association of Chiefs of Police. The One Mind Campaign is a program in which police departments pledge to implement four practices to better help people affected by mental illness over one to three years, including establishing a partnership with a community mental health organization, training sworn officers and non-sworn staff in mental health awareness and providing crisis intervention training.

The curriculum focuses on individuals with mental health disorders such as depression or intellectual disability and includes education on various deescalation techniques, as well as live roleplay scenarios of officers responding to persons who need mental health assistance.

Along with the benefit of keeping costs down, the combination of crisis intervention training and community partnerships allows police to prevent situations from ending with violence, according to Dr. Katherine Drechsler, an assistant professor of social work at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. “It definitely helps the situation deescalate,” Drechsler said. “Improves the confidence of police officers.” Fort Atkinson has trained 16 of its 20 officers up and down the chain of command, from Chief Bump to his captains, lieutenants and detectives.

Drechsler, who spent 30 years as a social worker helping individuals with mental health disorders, said she believes these types of steps benefit both the police and the people they’re trying to help.

“It’s truly an excellent move in the right direction for individuals affected by mental health disorders,” Drechsler said. “It’s definitely an asset for the community.”

Read the whole story by Henry Redman from the Daily Jefferson County Union at http:// https://www.dailyunion.com/news/chapter-fort-atkinson-police-join-international-pledge-to-better-help/article_3c4e5d76-f277-54e6-b767-2a35063a0766.html

It’s time for the July meeting of the Fort Adult Care Consortium, taking place on Tuesday, July 9th, at 10:00 AM at the Dwight Foster Public Library, 209 Merchant Street in Fort Atkinson, WI. Copies of the agenda for the meeting are attached to this message, and the minutes from our previous meetings are available for download on the FACC website listed below. This month’s meeting is also be available as a Zoom web meeting / conference call, for those of you struggling with the conflict of wanting to be involved while needing to meet direct resident needs. Contact Michael Zore directly if you’d like to participate this month, so he can walk you through the technical requirements for this process.

As always, if there is information you would like distributed for discussion during our next meeting, forward them to me via email a week before our next meeting for inclusion. Copies of previous minutes and agendas are available on the FACC website, available in the Documents link above.

See you on July 9th!

The Jefferson County Board of Supervisors has scheduled four public meetings to garner residents’ feedback on the future of the county, after updating the county’s strategic plan. The plan’s first goal: “Jefferson County is committed to sustainable growth that improves the lives of our residents and other stakeholders and creates a more positive fiscal environment.”

The county also announced that it will be holding special public meetings on the county’s Comprehensive Plan and its Agricultural Preservation and Land-Use Plan. Those meetings, all of which will be held from 6 to 8 p.m., will begin with a formal presentation at 6 sharp, with county staff on hand afterward to answer questions from the public. The meetings will be held:

• Monday, June 24, at the Bank of Lake Mills, 400 Bernard St., in Watertown.
• Wednesday, June 26, at the Palmyra-Eagle High School.
• Wednesday, July 10, at the Dwight Foster Public Library in Fort Atkinson.
• Thursday, July 11, at the Lake Mills Municipal Building.

Read the full story at
https://www.dailyunion.com/news/public-input-on-jefferson-county-s-future-sought/article_ec9ebb24-42ce-57ac-b1a0-6c1fb57bd338.html