Holmes County JFS to take over Multi-County juvenile duties
Holmes County had been on the cusp of seeking alternate ways of treating and detaining youth who go through the Holmes County court system, and on Monday, Jan. 3, the Holmes County commissioners made their first big move of 2011, turning over the duties formerly being taken care of by Multi-County Juvenile Attention System in Stark County to the Holmes County Department of Job & Family Services (JFS). The change to bring the placement of juveniles in need of either detention or treatment services will now be performed within the county, a move which county commissioners hope will pay of financially and in terms of health care for area youth.For the past four decades, Multi-County Juvenile Attention System (Multi-County) has been part of the process in which Holmes County youth are rehabilitated. However, recently, when Stark County — which is the same size as Holmes, Wayne, Columbiana, Tuscarawas and Carroll counties combined — announced it would be trimming its county budget by 16 percent, and be shutting down two treatment centers which were part of Multi-County’s services, the agreement to stay with Multi-County may have ended up costing Holmes County even more. With budgets being so tight, the Holmes County Commissioners began to discuss the possibilities of running the county’s youth detention and treatment practices through JFS.
During their first meeting of the new year, the commissioners officially appointed JFS to administer a special revenue fund to pay for the provision of Juvenile Court detention and/or treatment placement services. The money which has annually been earmarked for Multi-County will now be administered into the special account for Job & Family Services.
“We’re very excited to be on our own with this,” said Commissioner Joe Miller. “Multi-County served us very well over the past four decades, but it was time to move in a different direction. We feel like this is the best thing for our county.”
JFS will continue to work with Holmes County Juvenile Court Judge Tom Lee and his staff, in determining how youth will be processed through the system. The only change in the way the county handles attention system juveniles is that JFS will act as the fiscal agent for the process. The court staff and probation officers used in the cases will remain the same.
“Judge Lee and his personnel will continue to have the final say on where each juvenile will end up going,” said Dan Jackson, director of Holmes County JFS. “What is nice is that they can make each decision based on the need of each individual kid.”
“The account was created so that our auditor can track the residents and expenditures for treatment and detention of juvenile offenders,” said Jackson. “Our children’s services staff will not be involved. But the good thing about this approach is that we are able to look around for other places that will bet suit our needs.
“What we had hoped for was to be able to plan each juvenile’s needs, and to shop around for the best fit. Unlike Multi-County, here, we aren’t paying for the entire system’s costs, regardless of whether we are using them or not. The bottom line is, now we are paying for a bed as needed, and treatment as needed, and not splitting the cost for the entire system. It’s going to work out much better.”
While the Linda Martin Juvenile Attention Center in Wayne County will be the primary care center for the juveniles, the county is not tied down to any particular facility, and is free to search for one which will be best suited for an individual child, as well as compare costs. That is one detail which excited everyone involved with the decision.
“Just having the ability to pick and choose which facility is best suited for each youth means a lot,” said Jackson.
Holmes County had been paying Multi-County according to the size of the county, paying a lump sum and then being either reimbursed or charged more, depending on how many youth went through the system. Jackson said that Holmes County was in line to pay more to Multi-County this year because of recent population growth, creating yet one more reason to seek alternative solutions to the youth rehabilitation process.
“This is undoubtedly going to stabilize our costs and reduce liability on the county,” said Jackson.
The commissioners were not disappointed with the way Multi-County was performing its duties, but rather this decision was based on the financial burden the county was facing. When the possibility arose of moving the decision making process of detention and treatment of Holmes County youth to within Holmes County, it seemed to make good sense, both fiscally and for the responsibility that comes with treating youth.
“A lot of people worked very hard to make Multi-County a successful venture, but in the end, this is all part of our effort to make our county government smaller,” said Miller. “I don’t think we have suffered one bit by making government here smaller, because we have got some very good people, and I think it is starting to pay off for us. We saw this as one way we could accomplish that task while providing great quality for our youth.”
Added Commissioner Ault, “This is a step in the process. We are going to continue to look at ways to continue to cut costs and maintain our quality services offered throughout the county. This is exciting because we hope to be able to get the best possible treatment for our children.”