Child services consolidation

The human services commissioner would be required to consult with the Legislature before closing or relocating an enterprise activity within state-operated services, under a bill passed 105-25 by the House April 16.

Sponsored by Rep. John Ward (DFL-Brainerd) and Sen. Paul Koering (R-Fort Ripley), HF2588/SF2368* was amended to include the House language before its passage. It now returns to the Senate.

The bill is in response to the Department of Human Services proposed consolidation of the Brainerd and Willmar child service facilities, Ward said.

Staff from the Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health Services Program in Brainerd previously told a House committee its facility is consistently at bed capacity with needy and severely mentally ill children. But department statistics show Brainerd’s inpatient services steadily declining since 2004. Therefore the department recommends consolidating services to save the state $1.2 million annually. Staff said the consolidation would significantly impact the involvement of families in their children’s treatment because of the long distance they would need to travel to another center.

Ward said he has been unsuccessful in his attempts to discuss a consolidation proposal.

Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Delano) said forcing the department to wait until the Legislature meets in session to be able to close a facility is more deficit spending “causing further stress on an already stressed budget.”

“Over and over and over and over and over and over again state-operated services has dumped on our regional treatment centers out in rural Minnesota,” said Rep. Al Juhnke (DFL-Willmar). “This bill is necessary so that they will have Legislative involvement.”

Current law prohibits the commissioner from closing a center, nursing home or certain programs at a facility without legislative approval.

Wes Kooistra, the department’s assistant commissioner for chemical and mental health services, said the Brainerd facility is set up to operate under receipts for their services. The facility has been losing money since 2006, and by keeping it open the state is “covering, in many cases, empty beds,” he said.