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Minnesota spends millions sending troubled youth out-of-state for treatment

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Published  November 24, 2024 10:30pm CST
Minnesota
FOX 9

Nowhere to go: Sending kids out of state costs

Minnesota spends millions on sending troubled youth out-of-state for care. FOX 9's Paul Blume has the story.

The Brief

    • Young, violent offenders in Minnesota who are found incompetent often have nowhere to go.
    • Minnesota sends kids more than 1,000 miles away to facilities in Utah, Virginia and New England.
    • Out-of-state placements have cost Hennepin County more than $2 million this year alone.

(FOX 9) - A review of state and county data as well as spending records highlights the challenge of addressing youth mental health issues in Minnesota, particularly among children coming through the juvenile justice system.  

"With complex needs, you look to what is there," explained Hennepin County Administrator David Hough. "And unfortunately, if there are not resources available in Minnesota, we look to other states. And that is where you have the out-of-home placements and the spend on out-of-home placements."

READ MORE: Hennepin Co. investing millions to treat juvenile offenders with nowhere to go

The numbers

FOX 9 submitted public data requests with several counties across Minnesota seeking the number of children sent out-of-state for treatment this year. These include kids in need of treatment at Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities.  Many of the kids enter the system as juvenile offenders while others arrive through separate social service pathways. The records also reveal how much it costs to send children out of state for treatment.

  • Stearns County: One child-$83,991
  • Dakota County: Four children-$132,873
  • Olmsted County: Three children-$222,000
  • Chisago County: One child-$286,000

"It is substantial," said Chisago County Health and Human Services Director Robert Benson. "We talk about our child placements overall all the time when we are talking about our budgets, because it is one of the things we have the least amount of control over."

In total this year, there have been applications submitted for at least 117 Minnesota kids for treatment facilities in another state, according to the Department of Children, Youth and Families.

FOX 9 recently found counties must look for treatment options out of state because Minnesota only has four psychiatric treatment facilities that offer the level of care and treatment needed. The facilities struggle with staffing levels and regularly reject kids who have violent histories.

Hennepin County

Hennepin County has sent 22 kids out of state so far this year -- a figure that includes children coming through various social service entry points including juvenile delinquency. It has cost the county nearly $2.1 million.

That is why the county recently earmarked $22 million for a youth stabilization center in south Minneapolis. The county is transforming two floors inside an adult treatment facility at 1800 Chicago Avenue to house and treat kids with mental health needs. The goal is to open 10–15 beds for troubled children early in the new year to help move kids out of juvenile detention where they are sometimes held against the law.

"I wanted to provide a pressure valve, if you will, to help provide an alternative for the bench versus detention," said Hough.

Hough figures housing and treating a child 24-7 in this new youth stabilization center will cost about $2,000 per day, per child.