Senate hearing probes bill to let Life Skills and Transition Center serve a small number of non‑DD youths for short stabilization

Senate committee members heard extended testimony on Senate Bill 2112, which would let the state’s Life Skills and Transition Center in Grafton serve a limited number of minors who are not eligible for developmental disability services for short‑term crisis and stabilization.

The bill’s sponsors and Department of Health and Human Services (NDHHS) officials said the change would be narrowly applied, require senior approvals and not be intended to replace community‑based services.

What it would do and why supporters say it matters

At the start of the hearing, Jessica Thomason, executive director for the Human Services Division at NDHHS, told the committee: “What we’re talking about in senate bill 2,112 is a highly specialized service option for a very, very small number of youth who have extremely complicated needs.” Thomason said the bill’s drafting simply adds the term “non eligible” where statute currently only allows admission of people eligible for DD services, and that any admission of a non‑eligible minor would require approval by both the commissioner and the LSTC superintendent.

Thomason and other department witnesses said the bill would allow LSTC to provide a range of services for non‑DD youth: consultative or non‑residential supports, up to 90 days of residential stabilization with a possible 90‑day extension on superintendent approval, and short‑term residential crisis care when no community option exists. As Thomason put it, the proposal “offers a small but important expansion of a safety net resource that may help answer the need for short term crisis and stabilization services for a small number of children in our state.”

NDHHS and human services zone leaders described…