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Commissioners flag rising youth-detention costs tied to 'raise the age' changes
Summary
Board members and staff said rising youth-detention invoices and longer stays—linked to the state 'raise the age' policy—are increasing county costs; staff reported longer average stays and higher out‑of‑county placement costs and asked for attention to foster-care capacity and kinship payments.
Commissioners and staff discussed a notable increase in juvenile-detention costs, which participants linked in the workshop to state policy changes that shifted older adolescents into the juvenile system.
Commissioner (S2) said recent budgets show a substantial increase in spending for youth detention and asked whether those costs have risen consistently. Staff explained that after 'raise the age' some cases now require longer stays for evaluation and services; "now I'm getting invoices 20 day stay," one staff speaker said when describing current bills.
Officials said those longer placements and out‑of‑county placements for higher‑needs youth raise per‑case costs and that kinship payments and foster‑care funding are not always 100% state‑funded. Staff noted the county uses regional JCPC (Juvenile Crime Prevention Council) oversight for placement validation and that changing service needs have increased county expense variability.
Board members asked staff to continue monitoring placements and forecasts for the next budget cycle and suggested outreach to recruit more foster caregivers to reduce out‑of‑county placements.
Next steps: staff will monitor juvenile placement trends and include updated projections and possible mitigation steps in future budget materials.
