Bill to address children ‘boarding’ in hospitals, detention moves forward with stakeholder support

Senator Mann introduced Senate File 1561, a multi-part package aimed at reducing the number of children who are “boarding” — remaining in hospitals, juvenile detention centers or county facilities while awaiting appropriate mental-health placements.

Sponsor remarks and multiple witnesses described the magnitude of the problem. Senator Mann said children sometimes wait days, weeks or months for appropriate care and recounted a case in which a small rural hospital sheltered a child for weeks because no treatment setting was available. “In 2023, children across the state spent 12,000 avoidable days boarding in hospitals waiting for the right level of care,” Senator Mann said. Kristin Anderson, executive director of Aspire Minnesota, walked the committee through a long list of proposed changes including certified family peer specialist expansions, a youth-care professional training program, capacity building for high-fidelity wraparound services, and a youth-care transition-team model to support discharge and 90-day follow-up.

Jennifer Gustafson, clinical supervisor at Dakota County Juvenile Services Center, described detention facilities that have become de facto safety nets for children who need treatment but cannot be placed. “We are woefully under resourced to meet the needs of children who are boarding in detention,” she said, adding that some children boarding in detention are as young as 10. Pediatricians and residential providers testified that boarding harms children and families and that increased access to in-home services, respite and specialized transition teams can prevent unnecessary hospitalizations and longer stays. Dr. Margo Zarin Pass of Children’s Minnesota said these are not hopeless cases: “These kids are beautiful. They’re smart. They’re curious…With the support that they deserve, that potential could be realized,” she said.

PrairieCare and other providers urged a pilot to fund child-specific solutions and to use a mental-health collaboration hub to triage complex cases. Todd Archbold of PrairieCare described a recent case where a child boarded 172 days before a suitable local intensive treatment placement was found after hub coordination. Proposals in the bill include statutory fixes for third-path funding for residential care without requiring child-welfare placement, reimbursement increases for in-home services, and investments in recruitment for children’s respite providers.

The sponsor and witnesses emphasized that many measures are scalable and that proponents will work with lawmakers to prioritize given budget constraints. Committee members expressed support for addressing boarding, asked for fiscal analyses, and laid the bill over as amended for further work and fiscal review.

Ending: The bill packages short-term and structural solutions — from workforce and training changes to pilots and funding adjustments — intended to reduce boarding and create sustainable community-based alternatives; DHS and proponents will work on fiscal and implementation details before further legislative action.