Committee Meeting Memos

19136

Prepared by the North Dakota Legislative Council staff for the Budget Committee on Institutional Services
September 1999

FOSTER CARE FACILITIES - CHILDREN SERVED AND NEED FOR ADDITIONAL SERVICES

This memorandum is a compilation of the results of a survey conducted of the foster care facilities in the state regarding the types of services provided, number of children served, the number of children served from out of state, reasons why facilities do not accept all children for whom a placement is requested, and the need for additional foster care facilities.

Types of Services Provided
Facility	Location
Group Homes
Charles Hall Youth Services	Bismarck	Short-term shelter care, long-term regular care, counseling, tutoring, access to chemical addiction treatment, independent life skills training
Eckert Youth Homes	Williston	Family-oriented group home care; family counseling; group work; network with community on drug/alcohol treatment, mental disorders, and evaluations; residents attend public schools; emergency placements; short-term shelter care
Harmony House	Devils Lake	Intense school programming; group counseling; behavior programming; recreational and skills training
Lake Oahe Group Home	Fort Yates	Shelter care; individual and group counseling
New Outlooks	Devils Lake	Daily living instruction for students with low-adaptive skills open during school days only
Residential Child Care Facilities
Home on the Range	Sentinel Butte	Residential child care - Recently applied for licensing of a low-intensity outpatient substance abuse program
Red River Victory Ranch	Fargo	Social skills program; alcohol and narcotics addiction treatment; spirituality program
Dakota Boys Ranch	Minot and Fargo	Transitional living; independent living; recovery programming; medication monitoring and followup; individual, group, family, and milieu therapies; onsite school; public school; spiritual life
Prairie Learning Center	Raleigh	Individual and group counseling; drug and alcohol education; family programming; grief counseling; life skills training; anger management; aftercare services; behavior modification
Southwest Key	Mandan	Individual, group, and family therapy; milieu therapy; social skills building; educational services; recreation therapy; drug and alcohol awareness and aftercare; independent living training
Residential Treatment Centers
Southwest Key	Mandan	Individual, group, and family therapy; milieu therapy; social skills building; educational services; recreation therapy; drug and alcohol awareness and aftercare; independent living training
Ruth Meiers Adolescent Center	Grand Forks	Residential care with a continuum of services; psychiatric; psychological; individual, family, and group therapy; independent living skills; social skills; anger management; activity therapy; recreational activity; onsite school, etc.
Dakota Boys Ranch	Minot and Fargo	Psychiatric; psychological; medical assessment and followup; sexual offender treatment
Luther Hall	Fargo	Residential treatment
Manchester House	Bismarck	Clinical, educational, and residential services; preadmission and aftercare program; diversion project for pending out-of-state placements for ages 13 and under
Eight Rivers	Jamestown	Highly structured; behavior management; individual, group, and family therapy; education and recreation

Number of Children Served
			Fiscal Year 1999
Facility	Location	Number of Licensed Beds	Total Average Number of Children Served	Occupancy Percentage	Average Number of Out-of-State Children Served
Group Homes
Charles Hall Youth Services	Bismarck	24	21.38
Eckert Youth Homes	Williston	16	12.00		1.58
Harmony House	Devils Lake	7	6.42
Lake Oahe Group Home	Fort Yates	8	8.00		2.17
New Outlooks	Devils Lake	10	9.00
Total group home beds		65	56.80	87.4%	3.75
Residential Child Care Facilities
Home on the Range	Sentinel Butte	79	72.33		11.42
Red River Victory Ranch	Fargo	12	9.58
Dakota Boys Ranch	Minot and Fargo	61	55.33
Prairie Learning Center	Raleigh	50	46.51		2.32
Southwest Key	Mandan	24	23.36
Total residential child care facility beds		226	207.11	9l.6%	13.74
Residential Treatment Centers
Southwest Key	Mandan	16	15.67
Ruth Meiers Adolescent Center	Grand Forks	12	11.42
Dakota Boys Ranch	Minot and Fargo	32	30.83
Luther Hall	Fargo	16	15.50
Manchester House	Bismarck	10	10.00
Eight Rivers	Jamestown	8	7.75
Total residential treatment center beds		94	91.17	97.0%	0
Total beds		385	355.08	92.2%	17.49

Placement Requests
Facility	Location	Number of Licensed Beds	Average Number of Placements Each Month	Of the Requests, Number of Children Not Accepted for Services	Primary Reasons Children Not Accepted
Group Homes
Charles Hall Youth Services	Bismarck	24	5	1	Has a history of attempted suicide Needs more psychiatric treatment than provided Learning disability prevents them from attending public school
Eckert Youth Homes	Williston	16	2 to 8	1 to 3	Unable to attend public school Too low of an IQ Criminal behavior
Harmony House	Devils Lake	7	4	2	Needs more structure than provided at this facility
Lake Oahe Group Home	Fort Yates	8	3	1	Has a severe mental handicap Criminal behavior Sexual perpetrator
New Outlooks	Devils Lake	10	N/A	N/A	N/A
Residential Child Care Facilities
Home on the Range	Sentinel Butte	79	20 to 25	10 to 12	Program not appropriate for the child because of psychiatric issues, violence issues, sexual offender, firesetting, etc.
Red River Victory Ranch	Fargo	12	2 to 3	1	No bed available Chemical dependency not primary issue More restrictive setting needed
Dakota Boys Ranch	Minot and Fargo	61	9	5	No bed available Does not meet admission criteria - Age, IQ Level of care not appropriate for the child
Prairie Learning Center	Raleigh	50	12	2	Need more extensive services
Southwest Key	Mandan	24	3 to 6	1 to 2	No bed available Too violent IQ too low Needs inpatient chemical dependency treatment Needs a secure placement
Residential Treatment Centers
Southwest Key	Mandan	16	2 to 5	1 to 2	No bed available Too violent IQ too low Needs inpatient chemical dependency treatment Needs a secure placement
Ruth Meiers Adolescent Center	Grand Forks	12	5 to 7	4 to 6	No bed available Services not appropriate for the child
Dakota Boys Ranch	Minot and Fargo	32	16	9	No bed available Does not meet admission criteria Level of care not appropriate for the child
Luther Hall	Fargo	16	6	Varies	No bed available Sexual offender IQ under 70
Manchester House	Bismarck	10	3 to 4	Varies	May be placed in a less restrictive setting Does not meet minimum IQ level Requires sexual offender treatment No bed available
Eight Rivers	Jamestown	8	2 to 3	2 to 3	No bed available Does not meet admission criteria Must be at least 14 years old Failed in at least two other residential treatment centers

NEED FOR ADDITIONAL FOSTER CARE FACILITIES/SERVICES

In response to a survey question regarding the need for more foster care facilities in the state, seven facilities responded that there is a need for more facilities, five facilities responded that there is not a need for more facilities, and two either did not respond or were unsure. Of the facilities that responded yes, the following comments on the types of services were identified by the facilities:

Residential treatment.
Residential treatment for children with low IQs.
Residential treatment for lower functioning children who need addiction counseling.
Residential treatment for chemically addicted children.
Residential treatment for sexually reactive children and for children under 14 years old.
Residential treatment for children who have serious emotional disorders and who are mentally retarded.
Residential child care for the extremely violent "acting out" child.
Group home beds.
Group home beds in the Fargo area.
Group home beds for children with autism who require residential supports.
Severely mentally handicapped students needing residential placements are placed more than 100 miles from home due to the lack of group homes for school-age children with developmental disabilities.
Therapeutic foster care homes.
Family foster care.