Wabasha County social services staff report rising caseloads and planned changes under new state rules

The Wabasha County social services department told county commissioners on Tuesday that workloads remain high and state policy changes will increase staff work and documentation.

"Adult protection, we received 166 reports in 2025," said Kayla Meyer, who supervises the adult services team, listing that 30 of those came in as emergency protective services and that 45 were opened to assessment or investigation. Meyer said the most common allegations were self-neglect, caregiver neglect, and financial exploitation.

Heidi Young, the children's services supervisor, said the department received 310 child-protection reports in 2025 and opened 74 for assessment or investigation. "We screen in about 23 percent of reports in 2025," she said, and noted 31 accepted investigations (the majority sexual abuse) and 43 accepted assessments (the majority neglect or physical abuse).

Young also outlined impending changes she said will raise workload and documentation requirements. She described a statutory shift from "reasonable efforts" to "active efforts" for certain families under a named preservation and disproportionality act the department expects to roll out in 2027; the change will widen the set of cases requiring culturally specific supports and more intensive engagement with families. "It's supposed to... change it to we have to do active efforts," Young said, giving examples such as providing transportation to culturally appropriate therapy or arranging childcare during appointments.

Staff also reported licensing and program activity: the licensing unit initiated seven new childcare home licenses and five new foster-care homes (mostly relatives), while the Parent Support and Outreach Program (PSAP) received 47 new referrals in 2025. "PSAP program just received a sniff grant... to provide books to children," Young said, noting program outreach activities.

County Administrator (as presented at the meeting) and the social services director, Eva Beyer, emphasized staff dedication. Beyer identified herself as the department director and said she had been in the role about 127 days. She thanked supervisors and praised staff responsiveness to community needs. The department did not provide a complete unit-by-unit count of housing units or fiscal impacts during the presentation; several details were described as "not specified" by presenting staff.

The board did not take formal policy action on the program reports during the meeting; commissioners asked clarifying questions and acknowledged that documentation and staffing needs would increase with the pending state changes.