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County to begin CCS enrollments; fiscal plan aims to cut costly out-of-county placements
Summary
Sawyer County reported starting Community Care Services (CCS) enrollments this week and discussed fiscal strategies to reduce expensive out-of-county placements, including reconfiguring local 'transitions' housing and expanding in-county services.
Behavioral-health staff told the Sawyer County Health & Human Services Committee on Nov. 3 that the county has certified to provide Community Care Services (CCS) and will enroll its first CCS client this week.
"We are going to be starting with our first client this week," Alicia said, noting a service facilitator will meet a potential second client on Wednesday. Staff said CCS expansion and other billing improvements are expected to increase revenue that can offset departmental costs.
The committee also devoted substantial time to fiscal issues tied to behavioral-health placements. Fiscal staff reported that one high-cost out-of-county placement can cost roughly $341,000 per year. Committee members and staff discussed reconfiguring the county's existing "transitions" facility (currently an eight-bed setting) and training staff to support higher-need clients locally as a way to bring some clients back into the county and reduce annual placement costs.
Fiscal staff said two clients are in long-term placements outside the county at present, and several others are in-transit or at local transitions housing. "We have 2 living outside of the county now, like long term placements," a fiscal staffer said; staff later explained some placements are crisis-related and others are longer-term placements.
Committee members discussed potential capital or operational options, including repurposing county-owned buildings, adding staff or sharing providers regionally. Staff cautioned that additional training and some new staff likely would be needed to safely care for higher-need clients locally but said the change could be cost-effective over time.
The committee did not vote on a specific capital project; discussion focused on budget strategy for 2026 to grow CCS revenue, increase billing capture and reduce out-of-county placement costs.
