A proposal for Kewaunee County's Aging Disability Resource Center will coincide with plans for a state-mandated Family Care program that will be established in two years with at least six other Northeastern Wisconsin counties.

Staff will outline plans for the aging services unit, Kewaunee County Aging Services Director Sara Malay said Oct. 14 when the Human Services Committee approved the County Tribal Plan on Aging 2010-12.

The revised plan outlines the ADRC's operation and includes goals and a checklist of activities, she said. The Greater Wisconsin Agency on Aging Resources will review the county's plans for the state.

While Kewaunee County's ranking for services is quite high, Kewaunee County Human Services Director Bill Kelsey said the department still must decide who it will partner with when the Family Care plan is mandated.

The county's plan is likely to change when Family Care is rolled out in 2011 or 2012. Buck Rhyme, a consultant who has been working monthly with counties across the state, will help determine who the county should partner with for services.

"I would expect him to encourage us to partner with Door County or Manitowoc County," Kelsey said. "Whoever you partner with, there will be challenges. He is there for our approval."

Rhyme will present various organizational structures and work with the consortium on recommending partners. Counties will have a 60-day window to implement the ADRC.

"I wanted to see the process begin way before that 60-day implementation," Kelsey said.

Although the aging unit will remain separate, for example, the aging benefits specialist with the county's aging unit also will work with the ADRC.

Planning will depend on how well the county is set up for an ADRC. There are several options for putting an ADRC together, he said. A governing board, for example, may be established.

Human Services Committee Chairman Jan Swoboda and Kelsey said they do not want to put any county taxpayer dollars into Kewaunee County's program.

"I don't believe we should put money into the ADRC. The allocation we receive (from the state) should be enough," Kelsey said. "I don't want to put (Kewaunee County) tax dollars into the ADRC."

While there should be adequate funding for staffing, he anticipates improvements that will needed in the county's phone system during the transition.

The committee also discussed the establishment of Northeast Wisconsin Family Cares as part of a multicounty consortium including Brown, Door, Shawano, Oconto and Menominee counties.

Although several names have been considered for the consortium, Swoboda said planners want to include "Northeast Wisconsin" in its name. Its Web site will be www.northeastwisconsin familycare.com for easy identification, she said.

Another major concern for the committee is where the funding is going to come from to implement the partnership and start-up of Family Care.

"If the state isn't going to make the commitment, forget it," Swoboda said. "But we're moving along. It's going to happen."

Although several people have been interviewed as directors for the multi-county consortium, Kelsey said the right candidate will have strong business knowledge and will need how to know how to build a business.

In other business, the committee discussed human services staff efforts to help nine people with disabilities adjust to living in Seagull Apartments, a subsidized apartment complex in Algoma.

Kelsey recalled one new resident who had been seeking to live independently say 'I finally got my dream."

Many of the new residents are learning to meet each other's needs, just as residents in regular neighborhoods help each other out, he said.

"It was a positive for us and for Seagull Apartments," Kelsey said. "It's really exciting when you walk through and see the smiles on people's faces."