Eau Claire County board warned of $1.8 million budget gap as Human Services placements rise

At its Aug. 19 meeting, the Eau Claire County Board of Supervisors heard a Department of Human Services fiscal update showing some placement categories are above plan and administrators said the county faces an estimated $1.8 million shortfall for the next budget cycle.

Director Weideman, director of the Department of Human Services, told the board the department’s total 2025 budget is $50,900,000, of which $10,100,000 is county levy. She said placements of children — foster care, treatment foster care and residential care — are “slightly over budget.” For January through May the department had budgeted $1,700,000 for child placements and recorded $1,900,000 in actuals; the annual budgeted figure is $4,200,000 with an annual projection of $4,700,000.

“We asked the county board for 1.9,” Director Weideman said, referring to $1.9 million added to placement budgets in the current year. She added the department also used other measures to hold costs down, including holding open positions: “We have made other shifts as well to make it manageable,” she said.

Why it…