The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About03. 29.2023 Prior Lake Transformational House Community Team Meeting MinutesAgenda Items: •Welcome/Introductions •Update on Process/projections for first residents to move in •Charter review/development/approval •Frequency of visits/time and dates/locations •Outside Observers •Tour of Prior Lake home/set date •Other IN ATTENDANCE Jeff Curran: Neighbor Marshall Engstrom: Neighbor Matt Fulton: Neighbor Janean Johnston: Neighbor Jason Wedel: Prior Lake City Manager Liam Duggan: Prior Lake Chief of Police Barb Hedstrom: Community Corrections Advisory Board Molly Bruner: Scott County Community Corrections Director Tierre Webster: Damascus Way Executive Director Keri Lorenz: Community Corrections Supervisor (Meeting Minutes) Date: March 29, 2023 Time: 5:00 pm Location: Prior Lake City Hall UPDATE ON PROCESS/PROJECTIONS FOR FIRST RESIDENTS TO MOVE IN Construction of the inside of the home is complete. Damascus Way is working with HEART and others to obtain furniture for the home, they are about ½ way done. Cameras and technology are being installed on both the interior and exterior of the house and will be operational when the home opens. Craig Fruen will be the on-site director for both the Prior Lake and Shakopee homes. Craig has been with Damascus Way for over 20 years. He has worked in many facets of the organization including as the executive director prior to Tierre joining Damascus Way. Damascus Way has job postings advertised for the case manager for the home (Tierre will share the postings with the team). Some of the skills and experience they are looking for in candidates include case managements skills, experience conducting client assessments, settings goals with clients and facilitating services. The Prior Lake house will not open until staff is hired and trained, possibly early May. There will be 1 fulltime case manager and one part time staff. There will be a fulltime case manager assigned to each of the houses along with a part time staff for weekend coverage. Craig will go between the Shakopee and Prior Lake houses. Staff will not have set schedules as they will work around clients needs at the houses. They want to have flexibility in their schedules to meet the needs of the clients with staffing coverage equal for both houses. As these houses are transitional, placement at the houses is voluntary for clients and as such the houses are not a locked program. When placed in the homes, clients agree to curfew and to follow rules and expectations of the houses. Clients placed at the homes are all under the supervision of Scott County Community Corrections. Clients may come to the homes after serving their required time in prison, from our jail or are on probation and not coming from a correctional facility. All referrals to the houses come solely from Scott County Community Corrections, are Scott County residents or have ties to Scott County. As placement in the homes is voluntary, clients are motivated to change, and research reflects a clients motivation is linked to higher success. Damascus Way is invested in the clients they serve. They work in partnership with Scott County Community Corrections and the clients to help build long term connections, stable housing, employment/education and any other needs the client may have. There will be a Scott County probation officer supervising all of the clients at the homes. There are 2 different tracks for the clients in the homes. Some may be at the home until other services can be arranged such as placement at a chemical dependency treatment program while others will be there longer to work through their plan to obtain employment, housing, programming etc. The duration of each clients stay at the home is dependent on their needs and individual plans. Work and updates to the interior of the home were completed by HEART Ministries. Scott County covered the cost of the materials for the work and HEART provided all of the labor through volunteers. HEART worked with the city of Prior Lake for all necessary permits. CHARTER REVIEW/DEVELOPMENT/APPROVAL There is work that needs to be done on the exterior of the home including installation of drain tile and landscaping. There was discussion about plans for the backyard/landscaping. Feedback and input will be sought from neighbors of the home through that process. The neighbors have discussed the Transition House Operating Directions on page one of the charter (items 1-6), they would like these to be legally binding. Jason said he would consult with their city attorney. Discussion about outcomes from the home and how decisions will be made regarding the homes success. Neighbors would like information regarding police calls to the house if there are any. Chief Duggan advised that they will share any and all information that they are able to. He advised that not all calls are in response to a safety issue and don’t mean that there was a safety concern. We discussed 2 of the calls that occurred at the Shakopee house and Tierre advised that both of those calls went great. Clients needed to be removed from the home (not due to new offenses) and both went willingly without incident. Neighbors would like more information regarding different outcomes related to the home and clients. As Scott County received a grant from the Department of Corrections, there are also reporting requirements as part of the grant. Molly advised that she will share this information with the group. The metrics are as follows (each client has an individual case plan, not all of the following apply to everyone): •Vehicle ownership •Valid Driver’s License •Employment •Education •Stable Housing •Medical Assistance/insurance •SNAP •Chemical Use assessments •CD treatment •Mental Health supports •Recidivism Due to data privacy, information specific to the residents at the houses will not be shared nor will the committee vet referrals or staff cases. The committee agreed to review the charter draft prior to the meeting in May. A copy of the charter draft will be sent out for the group to make suggested changes/ additions to. OUTSIDE OBSERVERS There has been a request from others that are not part of the group to observe the meetings. There was discussion about how to include others and ensure transparency but also be able to get the work done. One option suggested was for neighbor members to bring reoccurring topics back to the committee and have a separate time for observers to address these topics through an open meeting giving presentations or having conversations a couple times a year. Neighbors agreed to go back to the other neighbors and gather feedback and input to be discussed at the May meeting. Discussed having a place that others not part of the group could review information from the meetings such as the meeting minutes etc. Jason advised that he will check if there is a place through the city where the information can be posted. ACTION ITEMS 1.Feedback from neighbors of the Prior Lake house that they would like to know if the House Operating Direction items 1-6 of the charter draft are legally binding. They would request that they are.2.Charter will be emailed to the group for review and suggested edits/additions.3.Feedback from other neighbors regarding discussion had about outside observers.4.Is there a place where information from meetings can be accessed by those not part of the meeting group.5.Meeting invites for Tour of the Prior Lake house and future meetings scheduled for May and July. ACTION ITEM FOLLOW UP 1.Jason Wedel will inquire and bring information back to the group regarding the charter being legally binding. 2.Molly will have the Charter draft emailed out to the group, group will review and provide suggested edits/additions at the May meeting. 3.Jeff, Marshall, Matt and Janean will discuss options for outside observers with the other neighbors and bring feedback back to the group at the May meeting. 4.Jason will see if the city has a place to post information from the meetings for others not part of the group to access. 5.Molly will have calendar invites sent out to the group for the tour and the May and July meetings. NEXT MEETINGS Tour of Prior Lake house: April 25 at 6:00 at the Prior Lake house Meetings: Wednesday, May 17th at 5:00 pm Prior Lake City Hall Wednesday, July 19th at 5:00 pm Prior Lake City Hall