Family Keys pilot kept 53 children with families, county staff say, and saved roughly $256,000 in foster-care costs

Marathon County social services staff told the Health and Human Services Committee on July 8 that the Family Keys pilot strategy helped keep children with their families or reunify them and produced measurable cost savings.

Krista Johnson, who presented the program outcome review, said Family Keys served 21 families comprising 53 children in 2023–24. Of those families, 13 — 62 percent — met the program’s definition of successful discharge, meaning they had stable housing and maintained placement of children in the home. Johnson said 77 percent of those successful families later maintained their housing and employment in follow-up checks.

Officials presented a simple cost comparison: Family Keys expenditures for the two-year period totaled just under $235,000. If those 53 children had been placed in out-of-home care, projected costs would have been $491,239 — a difference the presenters characterized as roughly $256,000 in savings over two years.

Johnson described program requirements and results: families are expected to follow a handbook, save 30 percent of income targets, and accept weekly home visits during participation. She told the committee that not all families complete the program; roughly 38 percent of enrolled families were discharged unsuccessfully under program definitions. Johnson also relayed participant feedback collected by staff: some families told caseworkers the program “saved my life, my kids’ life,” and that they were able to secure housing within a week of acceptance.

Why it matters: committee members and administrators framed Family Keys as a strategy that can lower out-of-home placements, produce better outcomes for children, and reduce county costs. Administrator Leonard said the county intends to treat Family Keys as a strategy integrated into ongoing out-of-home placement budgeting and does not plan to request additional levy for the program in 2026, relying instead on flexible use of existing funds.

Officials credited local nonprofit partners for providing housing and volunteer support, and said a state report on the three-county pilot will be available soon. The county also has an outstanding United Way grant request specifically for Family Keys.

Less-critical details: the program’s approach shifted after board feedback from an initial congregate-housing idea to using existing landlords and transitioning families to individual leases; county staff said the change increased sustainability.