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Human Services director outlines shortage of placements, rising costs for out-of-home care
Summary
Human Services Director Jill Bender told the Vernon County Board the county has 30 children in out-of-home care, five in high-cost residential centers and one out-of-state placement costing about $1,600 per day; she projected placement costs could top $1,000,000 next year and urged support for more local options.
Human Services Director Jill Bender told the Vernon County Board that child welfare work prioritizes family reunification but that the county faces limited placement options for youth with complex needs.
"We currently have about 17 foster homes in our county that are licensed by us," Bender said, adding that Vernon County has five youth in residential care centers and 30 children in out-of-home care. She said statewide there were about 5,682 children in out-of-home care as of Sept. 15, with nearly 4000 placed in foster homes and 224 in residential care centers.
Board members pressed Bender about the costs of high-acuity placements. Bender said residential care centers run from roughly $800 per day up to an out-of-state placement the county is now using at about $1,600 per day, and that the county anticipates out-of-home placement expenses may exceed $1,000,000 next year. "We do receive basic county allocation and we get other alternate care type of revenue from the state that offset those costs, but they are not 100% covered," she said.
Supervisors and attendees described a shortage of local emergency mental-health capacity and the burden of long drives to find placements. One supervisor noted the county sometimes must drive children "4 or 5 hours" to secure placement; another urged exploring regional partnerships or repurposing an empty facility but cautioned that operating such a center requires sustainable funding and licensing.
Bender said the department attempts least-restrictive placements first—foster and treatment foster homes, kinship care and only then residential care centers—and that psychiatric care, therapy and case management are part of services sought for youth with complex needs.
The presentation prompted several follow-up requests from supervisors for staff to continue exploring crisis stabilization options and to report back on potential regional partnerships, facilities that could be repurposed and how state funding offsets county levy costs.
