Otter Tail helping bail out juvenile center

By Tom Hintgen (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Otter Tail County has joined other counties in agreeing to a per diem increase to address a 2008 budget shortfall at the West Central Regional Juvenile Center in Moorhead. Otter Tail and 12 other counties make use of the facility.

County Probation Director Charles Kitzman and county board chairman Sydney Nelson both serve on the juvenile center advisory board which voted to raise the per diem from $180 to $195, starting in 2009.

“It’s more cost effective for Otter Tail County, and other counties, to pay a daily per diem rather than having our own juvenile facility,” Kitzman said.

In 2007 Otter Tail County’s usage at the facility totaled 929 days.

The juvenile center in Moorhead functions as a coed 24-bed secure facility as well as a coed 14-bed non-secure care program. The center provides services for juveniles with behavioral, protection, dependency and delinquency issues.

Raising the per diem, by itself, will not solve all of the problems related to the juvenile center budget shortfall. To that end, counties including Otter Tail are being asked to consider a share-based formula to help cover the shortfall for 2008.

Otter Tail’s County’s share, which will be considered by the county commission in December, would be $30,873. Clay County’s proposed share heads the list at $80,845. Becker County has been asked to contribute $54,165. Close to Otter Tail County is Douglas County at $29,808. Just below Otter Tail County is Wadena County at $12,190. The other eight counties would contribute $6,600 or less.

“Members of the juvenile center advisory board felt we should help with the deficit, and later on come up with a plan for 2009,” said Kitzman to the five-member county board of commissioners Tuesday morning.

The good news, according to Kitzman and Nelson, is that other county-wide programs geared for younger kids is having a positive effect — with some counties seeing fewer youths being sent to Moorhead for placement at the regional juvenile center.

As for Otter Tail County’s participation with the center in 2009 and beyond, nothing permanent has been decided.

“One question arises on whether Clay County could operate the center on its own,” Nelson said. “That might well happen down the road.”

Administrators of the juvenile center say they’ve been doing their part, over the years, by being as fiscally responsible as possible. They said the center is currently functioning at a minimum staff level while striving to maintain quality programming.

Under a joint powers agreement, Otter Tail County and the 12 other counties that make use of the juvenile detention center in Moorhead hold meetings to discuss programs and review financial issues.

Each of the participating counties will later on debate the proposed budget that allows counties to have a set monthly payment. The goal would be to implement this program beginning in January 2009.