Woodland Centers outlines contract changes, youth crisis rate hike in Meeker County update

Woodland Centers CEO Dr. Ashley Jones told the Meeker County Board of Commissioners on Nov. 18 that the agency has restructured county purchase-of-service (POS) contracts and plans changes intended to make services clearer and more sustainable for member counties.

Jones said Woodland consolidated multiple county contracts into a single 2022 agreement and created designated allocations for mobile crisis, youth crisis, community education and outreach to provide transparency on how county dollars are spent. After months of county finance and director meetings, Woodland proposes moving clinical consultation out of the POS into separate month-to-month contracts so counties can opt in or out and see direct costs by service.

Jones described the agency’s youth crisis program as operating at a substantial annual loss (presented in the record as roughly $400,000–$500,000) and outlined a proposed day-rate increase designed to bring the program closer to break-even. The transcript records a rate change noted in the presentation; commissioners asked clarifying questions about bed capacity, referrals and how telehealth is attributed to county utilization. Jones said Woodland has seven youth beds and eight adult beds at its Willmar campus after reconfiguring facilities and that utilization had improved to about 40–50 percent of capacity.

Woodland also described changes to community education and outreach allocations, reducing an earlier $270,000 line by instituting a standardized five hours of education per county at $280 per hour (about $9,800 per county) and reallocating remaining funds to direct-care services such as therapy and psychiatry. Jones said some services that were previously in a pooled sliding-fee bucket will now be tied to specific allocations to improve transparency for counties.

Commissioners asked about supervision requirements for county case managers, potential impacts of cannabis legalization on demand for services, and how people are connected to Woodland’s crisis services (mobile crisis, law enforcement referral, social services, primary care, or by calling Woodland’s crisis number and transfer from 988). Jones offered to provide packet material and detailed line-item sheets for Meeker County and invited commissioners to tour Woodland’s Willmar facilities.

There was no formal board vote on Woodland’s proposals at this meeting; commissioners requested additional detail and materials for future budget and contract discussions.