DC adds 2 part-time therapists for Birth to 3 Program
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — With the closing of the Prevea Health Centers, Dunn County officials wondered who they could find to provide services for the Birth to 3 Program.
The problem was solved when the Dunn County Board approved hiring a part-time occupational therapist and a part-time physical therapist as county employees at the April 16 meeting.
Prior to this, Dunn County had contracted with Prevea for the part-time occupational therapist and the part-time physical therapist for the Birth to 3 Program, said Jenna Nutter, director of Human Resources.
The Birth to 3 Program serves children who are suspected of having developmental delays and who would benefit from early intervention services.
The Birth to 3 early intervention program for young children is required by the federal government and is included in Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Since the Birth to 3 Program is a mandatory program, and with the closure of Prevea, the director of Human Services, the deputy director of Human Services and some of their other team members, assessed the best way to provide continuity of care, Nutter said.
The best solution was to create two new positions for the county’s job inventory so when the physical therapist and occupational therapist who are already working with Dunn County children lose their jobs with Prevea, Dunn County can hire them, she said.
Switching from contracted services to county employees comes with a cost savings to the county, Nutter said.
Both of the current providers with Prevea are working part-time, and they want to continue their work with Dunn County part-time, she said.
The resolution to amend the inventory of job classes also included eliminating the nutrition program coordinator position and adding an aging and transportation programs manager.
Growing government
Those are all good ideas, said Larry Bjork, county board supervisor from the Town of Spring Brook.
After being elected to another term on the county board, however, Bjork said he has decided that when items come before the county board, he is going to find out “does this grow government?”
“Is this going to grow government? It is adding employees, so it is a growth of government (and putting more employees on the payroll),” he said.
The two part-time employees working with Dunn County children as a physical therapist and as an occupational therapist who will now be county employees will be replacing the two positions that Dunn County is already paying through Prevea, said Kelly McCullough, county board supervisor from Menomonie and chair of the Dunn County Board.
Dunn County is currently contracted with Prevea for the same two employees, and the county is required to provide this service, he said.
Is Prevea the only contractor providing the service, or does Dunn County contract with other providers, or are there other providers? asked Patrick Breslin, county board supervisor from Boyceville.
There are other providers, but the cost was significantly higher to contract with the other providers than it was to add the two therapists on as Dunn County employees, Nutter said, noting that CESA (Cooperative Educational Service Agency) was one of the possibilities for a contractor.
As for the Birth to 3 Program, Dunn County currently does not have any other providers, she said.
ADRC
A third position request is to change the existing nutrition program coordinator at the Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) to an aging and transportation programs manager for which there will be additional job duties, Nutter said.
Additional grant funding has been received that will allow the ADRC to expand on the programs that are being offered, so an aging and transportation programs manager is needed rather than a nutrition program coordinator, she said.
The title change with additional job duties to expand services to Dunn County residents will require additional pay, and the grant will cover the cost, Nutter said.
The Dunn County Board, on a voice vote, approved moving forward with amending the inventory of job classes by adding the physical therapist and occupational therapist positions as well removing the nutrition program coordinator and adding the aging and transportation programs manager.
