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Probation director: three high-need youths drove majority of Pine County placement costs
Summary
Pine County probation director Terry Faucett told the county board that three juveniles accounted for roughly 65% of placement bed days and 60% of placement costs as the department pursues restorative and community-based alternatives to reduce long-term detention.
Terry Faucett, Pine County probation director, told commissioners during an annual report that the county is using community-based strategies and restorative practices to reduce out-of-home juvenile placements and control costs. Faucett said the probation side of juvenile placements was under budget last year — the county budgeted about $361,000 for the juvenile center and spent roughly $223,000 — and that the department collected $8,400 from families toward placement costs.
Faucett highlighted the concentration of costs: "We had 3 this year... three juveniles, represent 8% of the total number of kids that were placed this last year, represented 65% of the overall bed days and 60% of the total cost," he said. He described the use of a risk-assessment instrument with probation and the county attorney, expanded use of nonsecure placements and alternative programming, and a partnership with the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) to reduce disparities and keep lower-risk youth in the community.
Commissioners and staff pressed for follow-up information on long-term outcomes for high-cost youth and on statewide capacity trends after several facilities closed. Faucett said tracking long-term outcomes is limited and mostly anecdotal, and warned that statewide closures of facilities have made placement options more scarce: "It's been a constant problem, and probably in a crisis in the last five years or so," he said. He also described a new partnership with Boys Town and noted the county's contract with the East Central Regional Juvenile Center provides access to roughly 100 beds and helps avoid transporting youth long distances.
The presentation covered additional alternatives: electronic monitoring (480 EM days last year at a cost of $6,834) and the youth early truancy intervention program (YETI), which Faucett said prevented petitions to juvenile court for many attendees ("of the 24 who attended last year, 19 have not been petitioned to juvenile court"). Commissioners directed staff to continue pursuing grant-funded restorative practices and community partnerships while tracking budget and placement outcomes.
