Beltrami health and human services leaders ask legislature to remove county cost shares and fund local needs
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Summary
County HHS officials asked lawmakers to exempt counties from 'does not meet criteria' daily charges at state hospitals, remove the county share of the behavioral health fund and restore $150,000 annually in opioid-response allocation that Beltrami lost under 2024 formula changes.
Antilyn Seth, Beltrami County’s health and human services director, told commissioners the county faces growing fiscal pressure from state policies and program changes that shift costs and work to counties.
Seth described the county cost-share structure for state direct care and treatment hospitals (county share varies by hospital and program, she said, and ranges from 10% up to 100% of daily rates). She said two current cases in the Minnesota Sex Offender Program are being charged at the full daily rate after being deemed 'does not meet criteria' (DNMC), and asked the legislature to restore the temporary exemption counties had from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2025. "We would like to see that returned into the statute," Seth said.
On behavioral health funding, Seth said counties are currently responsible for about 22.95% of behavioral health fund expenditures for individuals determined to be the county of financial responsibility, even though the state now manages eligibility and direct access to substance-use treatment. "With no authority for who goes to treatment and no oversight over that behavioral health fund eligibility, counties should not be charged a county cost share," she said.
Seth also asked the legislature to review the child-protection opioid-response allocation formula; Beltrami lost about $150,000 in ongoing annual funding after 2024 changes and received one-time appropriations of $100,000 for 2026 and $100,000 for 2027. She urged lawmakers to reinstate the ongoing allocation to restore local programs that support families affected by opioid use.
Commissioners asked follow-up questions about software and workload for implementation of new laws, audit tools for Indian child-welfare reviews and the potential to carve out economically disadvantaged counties from some obligations. Seth and county staff said some program costs rise from system limitations and policy changes and recommended state funding or statutory changes to reduce county exposure.
The board did not take formal action at this meeting; staff said they will continue to press legislators and workgroups on funding and statute language.
