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New center to stabilize troubled youth opening
With a price tag of $20 million, Hennepin County is opening a new facility that aims to address gaps in care for children with significant mental health needs. FOX 9’s Paul Blume has the details.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Hennepin County has invested $20 million in a brand-new, 13-bed Youth Stabilization Center to help support children with significant mental health needs.
'They deserve treatment'
What we know:
Hennepin County is preparing to open a brand-new Youth Stabilization Center just south of downtown Minneapolis later this month.
The secured facility has 13 beds in what is designed as a "bright and safe" environment to support children with significant mental health needs.
"They deserve treatment, and we want to respond with the right treatment approach," said Leah Kaiser, Behavioral Health Director for Hennepin County.
FOX 9 Investigators exposed troubled youth illegally housed in juvenile detention
The backstory:
The FOX 9 Investigators first exposed a crisis in the juvenile justice system where troubled, young offenders responsible for shootings, carjackings and other violent crimes were deemed incompetent by the courts with Nowhere to Go – too young to be locked up, too dangerous to go home.
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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.
Our reporting found several kids languishing illegally in juvenile detention for months at a time.
"The reason why these young people that you are describing as having ‘nowhere to go’ is because they have very significant needs. And so, the environment that we are creating is an environment specifically designed to meet their mental health needs," said Kaiser.
Following the FOX 9 reporting, Hennepin County allocated $20 million to establish the secured center with locked exterior doors.
It is designed for children between the ages of 8 and 17 years old, and includes classrooms, shared art and game tables as well as access to outdoor recreation space.
"The environment that we are creating is an environment specifically designed to meet their mental health needs," Kaiser says.
Staff ratios exceed state requirements
Dig deeper:
Administrators said children will be referred to the Youth Stabilization Center from within the juvenile justice system, local hospital emergency rooms as well as elsewhere from across the county’s care system.
They say the goal is to stabilize the youth within a 30-day window and then get them home or into an appropriate treatment program to meet their ongoing needs.
"What we find is that if we can get all the systems stabilized, calm and supportive, then we can more accurately look at what are the long-term needs of that youth," explained Margaret Vimont, Chief Growth Officer at Nexus Family Healing, the nonprofit contracted to provide services in the Hennepin County center.
In addition to the $20 million build-out, the county is spending an additional $7 million annually for Nexus services and staffing.
County officials report that child-to-staff ratios are expected to be 3-to-1, exceeding state licensing requirements.