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Pathways director tells commissioners program changes cut shelter stays and improve housing outcomes
Summary
Pathways executive director Will Kennedy told Yankton County commissioners he closed the nightly shelter model in March and retooled services to reduce average length of stay from 63 days to 47 days in 2025, increase successful housing outcomes and save county medical costs through benefit enrollment work.
Will Kennedy, executive director of Pathways, briefed the Yankton County Commissioners on July 15 about program changes that he said are reducing the time participants spend in shelter and improving outcomes.
Kennedy told commissioners Pathways closed its ‘‘night-by-night’’ shelter model in March and shifted reentry services to a dedicated basement space. He said the changes have shortened the average length of stay from 63 days in 2024 to about 47 days so far in 2025 — a roughly 25% decrease — and increased the share of graduates who report acceptable housing outcomes by about 10 percentage points.
Kennedy also said Pathways has been active in enrolling transient clients in Medicaid and Medicare, which he argued reduces uncompensated medical costs that otherwise could fall to the county. He gave a single anonymized example of a client whom Pathways helped obtain Medicaid after multiple ER visits, saying the enrollment likely prevented county-borne hospital bills.
Commissioners asked about recidivism and the program’s success with reentry clients; Kennedy said local outcomes for parole-associated participants are roughly 25% success (with increased stability when participants remain in program more than several weeks), and he described limits to what Pathways can require, noting that supervision tools (for example, court-ordered monitoring bracelets) are controlled by the Department of Corrections or parole authorities.
Kennedy requested continued county support and urged investment in proven services that keep people secure and housed, while commissioners thanked the presenter and acknowledged the ongoing challenge of balancing public safety, program effectiveness and limited county resources.
What’s next: commissioners accepted the report and encouraged Pathways to continue coordinating with parole authorities and to provide additional outcome data in future reports.
