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With the numbers of northeast Indiana’s unemployed measured in the tens of thousands, the economy’s effect on a handful of individuals seems insignificant. But budget cuts have a particularly cruel effect on the young people who benefited from the services of Allen County’s licensed group homes. It’s worth remembering the value of those services when the economic climate improves.
Kryder House and Yoder House closed Monday after county officials ran out of options for paying for the group homes. As a cost-cutting measure, the Indiana Department of Child Services earlier mandated that such facilities become eligible for federal reimbursement so that some of the cost would be offset for state taxpayers. Federal guidelines limit publicly operated youth facilities to 25 beds or fewer.
County officials did their best to meet the guidelines by reducing the Youth Services Center shelter from 36 beds to 25 and by privatizing Kryder and Yoder. Wabash-based White’s Residential and Family Services was selected to operate the two group homes, but it could not receive a license from the state because its $160-a-day per diem was $30 to $40 more than the state was willing to pay, based on what it pays in other areas of the state.
Judge Charles Pratt of the Allen Superior Court’s Family Relations Division, said he believed everyone involved had acted in good faith to try to reach an agreement, and he praised Allen County Commissioner Bill Brown for readily agreeing to extend services at county government’s expense to ensure the four young people who remained in the group homes receive the help they need.
“(Brown) had a passion for making this happen,” Pratt said. “The county didn’t have to extend services, but they did, without even batting an eye. That’s good government.”
While it might seem costly in the short run, investing in the young people served by the group homes pays off long-term. Most of the boys and girls served, ages 15-21, come from unstable homes and lack the skills necessary to stay in school or get a job. The group homes not only offered a safe living environment but also taught residents the independent living skills they would need for college or work.
Pratt said there are other privately operated group homes in the area where he places children but that the disruption for those currently at the public group homes was unfortunate.
“The system does enough to disrupt them as it is,” he said. “Until this settles down, they will be disrupted again. That’s very sad.”
The Youth Services Center isn’t a suitable replacement for the group homes. It is designed as a short-term shelter for children in crisis.
Pratt said a plan to carve out an independent living program as part of the Lima Road shelter was unsuccessful because it didn’t meet licensing requirements.
The loss of the group homes is regrettable, but the county officials who struggled to find a solution – Pratt and Allen Superior Court Judge Stephen Sims, Youth Services Center Director Chris Dunn and the Allen County commissioners – deserve credit for searching for a way to keep them operating.
Their awareness of the need is a reassuring sign that the most vulnerable of northeast Indiana’s youth have someone looking out for them.
