Social Services plans in-house supervised visitation pilot to save $100,000 and expand hours

Marathon County Social Services told the Health and Human Services Committee it will pilot running supervised visitation in-house in 2026, rather than contracting the service, and expects annual savings of about $100,000. Krista said the pilot would add three positions to expand visits into evenings and weekends and use casual staff initially; if the pilot proves effective, Social Services will return with a formal request for full-time positions.

Krista said the county currently is required to provide supervised visits for families engaged in child-welfare and youth-justice cases and that the department’s analysis shows an internal delivery cost lower than current contracted rates. In the packet’s cost comparison, Krista said contracted delivery cost approximately $41 per hour while an internal hourly rate, including salary and benefits, would be about $25.96 per hour. The department identified a one-time infrastructure cost of $15,228 to repurpose existing space and furnish two additional visitation/observation rooms.

Administrator Leonard said the delivery-model change is consistent with past county decisions to bring services in-house when cost effective. Krista said the move is a pilot and that staff will report back; no formal vote was required because the pilot and related staffing costs were included for committee review in the proposed 2026 budget.

Committee members asked that indirect costs and full accounting of benefits, utilities and space be included in comparisons; staff said those factors are reflected in the direct hourly cost figure and that sunk costs such as utilities would not materially change under the repurposing plan.