Committee flags sharp rise in secure youth-treatment costs, seeks sustainable funding for visitation and Mentor Vermont

House Human Services members pressed Department for Children and Families staff about program funding priorities for youth services and family supports during a budget briefing that followed the homelessness update.

A committee member (identified in the transcript as Anne) outlined department materials showing a large increase in operating expenditures for secure residential treatment and related services and described outstanding construction and startup needs for new facilities. The committee discussed the state’s recent openings and planned expansions of high-acuity youth beds (Red Clover and a planned Wyndham facility) and flagged the high per-bed operating cost estimates.

Anne summarized the department’s materials and said the operating total for secure-residential-care related programs had grown substantially in recent years; she noted that fiscal-year comparisons reflect one-time carryover funds and…