Kandiyohi County Board approves increase in rate for Greater Minnesota Family Services

May 19—WILLMAR

— After being tabled at its first meeting in May, the

Kandiyohi County Board

at the May 16 meeting approved an increase of the rates the county pays for children's shelter care provided by

Greater Minnesota Family Services

, amending its contract with the county.

The organization had originally requested a larger increase at the May 2 meeting, but commissioners wanted more information before making any decisions.

"We just had some general questions about what was going on," said Commissioner Corky Berg.

Kathleen Nelson, a social services supervisor with Kandiyohi County Health and Human Services, said that she had extensive conversations with the organization's CEO George Dubie and he reduced the request.

"He came back with a 12% (increase request), instead of a 16%," Nelson said.

The approved rates for reimbursement-eligible clients are now $258.98 per day for children placed at the facility by Kandiyohi County Health and Human Services and $292.05 per day for children who are placed by counties other than Kandiyohi County. The previous rates were $231 per day for Kandiyohi County and $260 per day for other counties.

Greater Minnesota Family Services provides various programs for children including residential shelter care, mental health evaluation and therapy, a weekend truancy program and more. It has an office in Willmar along with a home on a five-acre parcel just outside of town for its shelter programs. The organization's service area covers all of southwest Minnesota as well as counties in the east central area.

"These kids have mental health needs many times, behavioral needs, but they are at a more treatable level without needing the intensive services," Nelson said of the children served by Greater Minnesota Family Services.

Like so many industries and businesses, Greater Minnesota Family Services has been struggling with staffing issues. The lack of staff has required the organization to reduce the number of children it can serve at one time.

This is putting a strain not only on the business itself but also those who rely on the shelter to help children, such as Kandiyohi County. The hope is the increase in rates will allow Greater Minnesota Family Services to raise the salary it pays its staff, making it easier to hire and retain.

"It is really important we look to give them this increase in order to staff well, because we need the program," Nelson said.

In 2022, Greater Minnesota Family Services served 10 children that came from Kandiyohi County for a total of 704 days. If similar numbers are served in 2023, the county would pay about $19,000 more, Nelson said. She said it is important to support local organizations when possible, not least because it cuts back on mileage and staff time transporting children to out-of-county placements.

Commissioner Steve Gardner did try to give Greater Minnesota Family Services the original, larger increase it had sought May 2 by amending the board's motion Tuesday. That would have raised rates to $268 for Kandiyohi County children and $302 for children placed by other counties.

"I would rather err a little on the side of caution here and make sure this program is funded to the original request," Gardner said.

The amendment failed, with only Gardner and Commissioner Dale Anderson voting for it. The board then approved the lower request unanimously.

"It is a very important program, we do want to keep that program in our community on many different levels," Berg said. "I do feel what we decided on is a very healthy increase and we will see how it goes. We can always review that."

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