Portage County's Extension Committee agreed to schedule a scoping session to define the duties and institute placement for a replacement Human Development & Relationships (HDR) educator position previously held by Sherry Daniels.

At the meeting staff described HDRI (Human Development & Relationships Institute) programs such as financial education, aging/older-adult programming, mental-health and parenting programs (for example, Parents First) and noted that Health and Well-Being is a distinct institute that houses other programs including FoodWIse activities, StrongBodies and farmers'-market work. Staff said including the Health and Well-Being institute in the scoping session would broaden the set of program models presented but would require additional coordination.

Committee members emphasized the scoping session should identify local gaps and avoid duplicating services already offered by partners such as CAP services, ADRC, hospitals, UWSP and other county educators. One participant said the scoping session should invite stakeholders (human services, ADRC, family court, CAP, hospitals, business human-resources representatives and other partners) to assess needs and help shape the position description.

Staff proposed holding the scoping session in September (pushing back an earlier plan for August) so partners could be invited and give input; the scoping session would include short institute presentations and facilitated table discussions to produce a needs assessment that would inform the position description. No hiring or budget decision was made at the meeting: staff said a position posting and hiring would follow the scoping-session recommendations and depend on institute alignment and funding.

Committee members asked staff to compile a stakeholder list and map current regional resources so the scoping session can focus on gaps in Portage County rather than duplicating nearby services. Staff said they will share the stakeholder list with the committee prior to the scoping session and will run draft position language and program options by institute directors for input.