Prarie Lakes purchase of the Kandiyohi County boys and girls group homes complete

WILLMAR -- Since purchasing Kandiyohi County's boys and girls group homes, the Prairie Lakes Youth Programs has reduced expenses, reduced per diem fees and revamped some of the programming for the facilities.

Prairie Lakes officially took over the two group homes Nov. 1, although the sale and the transition had been in the works since March.

The transition has been time-consuming, but has gone smoothly, said Darin Balken, executive director of Prairie Lakes.

During a report Tuesday to the Kandiyohi County Commissioners, Balken said $200,000 was trimmed from the budget for the girls group home and $100,000 from the boys group home. Most of the savings came about in staff reductions. Balken said, however, the programs were not reduced.

Kandiyohi County had owned and operated the group homes, which has provided residential out-of-home placement for young teens with behavioral issues since 1975. During the last four years the county had lost nearly $600,000 in the venture. In June, the commissioners agreed to sell the group homes to Prairie Lakes Youth Programs, a five-county entity that also operates the juvenile detention facility in Willmar. The counties include Kandiyohi, Chippewa, Lac qui Parle, Swift and Yellow Medicine.

By realigning duties of existing Prairie Lakes employees, and those who were hired from the group homes, Balken said the services can now be offered to children at a lower cost.

In the past, the group home fees were $185 a day.

Now, it will cost $160 a day for the member counties and $180 for non-member counties at the girls group home. The fees are $5 a day less for both categories at the boys group home.

Balken said under the new budget the group homes should break even. But, he said, money isn't the primary issue.

"This is about kids," Balken said, and finding ways to help them "learn and move on."

Acquiring the group homes allows Prairie Lakes to offer a full continuum of care from the least restrictive group homes to the secure juvenile detention facility. The variety of programs will make it easier to provide appropriate services for children.

In other action:

- The commissioners agreed to apply for a grant to obtain $120,000 in state funding for drug court. Kandiyohi County is one of four counties in the running for the funding. The application is due Tuesday. A decision will be made Dec. 19 on which county will receive the funding. More state money will be sought during the next legislative session to fund more drug courts in Minnesota. Nearly $3 million was awarded to existing drug courts to help keep them operating.

- The commissioners discussed establishing a task force and a timetable to study space and location options for a new county rescue squad building. The initial schedule calls for a task force to present a recommendation to the county board by March or April. The task force members could include potential partners with a future building project, like the humane society, ambulance service or the city of Willmar.

- The commissioners approved a contract with the Community Addiction Recovery Enterprise for residential chemical dependency treatment, located on the former Willmar Regional Treatment Center campus.