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Dunn County: rising residential placement costs strain human services budget; supervisors push for state-level solution
Summary
Board staff presented data showing fewer children in out-of-home care but sharply higher per-child costs for treatment foster care, group homes, residential care centers and juvenile detention. Supervisors urged making high-cost placements a state-funded responsibility and asked staff to make that a legislative priority.
Dunn County Health and Human Services staff told the county board on Oct. 23 that the number of children in out-of-home care has fallen in recent years but per-child costs have risen sharply because of increased clinical and one-to-one care needs.
Director Paula Winter said the county currently has 27 children in foster care, six in treatment foster care and 17 in subsidized guardianship, while higher-cost settings such as group homes and residential care centers account for a disproportionate share of expenses. Winter presented a chart showing total foster-care-related costs rose even as caseloads declined: ‘‘When we had 48…
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