As youth services costs climb, Pierce, other counties come out on short side of funding dilemma

By Judy Wiff

ELLSWORTH - On Tuesday the Pierce County Board voted to cover a 1998 Human Services Department deficit of $86,741.

That's not the end of it, said Human Services Director Ted Phernetton. The 1999 deficit will be about $400,000, and the department will enter the New Year knowing that state funds won't come close to paying the cost of state-mandated programs.

The Human Services Department budget for the year 2000 contains $905,000 to cover costs that should, but won't, be paid by the state.

The problem can be explained by a single term: "unfunded mandates," said Phernetton.

Pierce County is not alone. Since 1987 nearly all Wisconsin counties have regularly put up extra money to pay more than their share for human services mandated by the state.

The biggest problem is in the area of Youth Aids, the money used to pay for services for juvenile delinquents, said Phernetton.

This year Pierce County received $293,000 in Youth Aids. Of that amount, $88,000 was earmarked by the state for juvenile correctional placements at institutions such as Lincoln Hills. By the end of September the county had already spent $188,399 on juvenile corrections.

Pierce has three youngsters in state institutions now. All three will be there for all or part of 2000.

"We already know we don't have enough money to operate (in 2000)," said Phernetton.

"When we turn the calendar, we need to be prepared to spend, based on who we have in juvenile corrections, $135,000," said Phernetton.

The state's formula for Youth Aids was developed in the 1980s and takes into account a county's population and historical use of state correctional facilities.

"Those formulas have never been readjusted," said Phernetton.

According to information provided by the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, the juvenile justice system, like the adult court system, was traditionally a county responsibility. It was funded by local sources such as the property tax and court fees and fines. The state operated juvenile correctional institutions using state tax dollars.

In 1981 the funding responsibilities of the counties and the state were changed. The Legislature created the Youth Aids program, sending counties an annual appropriation. The counties were to use that money to pay the costs of their youths in correctional facilities.

In 1982 Youth Aids covered 91.7% of the total cost of juvenile justice services. By 1997 that had dropped to 45.4%.

An added problem is the unpredictability of the next year's costs. "You never know how much you're going to spend," said Phernetton.

"Once a court has placed a juvenile offender in a correctional setting, the state Department of Corrections controls virtually all aspects of the case," said Phernetton. If a young juvenile is institutionalized, the placement can last for years with the county picking up the cost all that time.

Along with the Youth Aids corrections money, in 1999 the county received a Basic Community Allocation. That $204,979 is intended to expand or continue community-based juvenile services and programs.

Those community-based programs are the county's hope for relief, said Phernetton. Good community programs can prevent or mitigate problems, he said.

"What we want to do is find out what really works," said Phernetton. He said his department intends to try new things and to "set some pretty strict performance measurements for clients and providers."

"You pull the community in to solve the problem," said Phernetton, explaining his goal. "These are the community's children regardless of what they've done."

While Youth Aids programs are the greatest drain on county funds, they aren't the only under-funded programs.

The county must also provide overmatch money for Services to Children, Youth and Families; mental health services; and alcohol and drug abuse services.

Again, said Phernetton, those costs are beyond county control.

He gave as an example a psychiatric hospital used by the county. The hospital recently raised its rate for the first day of treatment by 36% to $565 and the rate for subsequent days by 32% to $480 a day.

The cost of other services has also increased, said Phernetton.

If, for example, a UW-River Falls student stumbles out of a bar incapacitated by alcohol or drugs and requires hospitalization, it'll cost the county $665 to $580 a day, an increase of about 50% over last year's cost.

The county hasn't gotten its state contract yet and doesn't know how much state aids will increase, but the raise is expected to be 2-3%, said Phernetton.

"These are situations where these people need these services. These are dangerous situations," said Phernetton. "Who picks up the cost? The state has shifted the cost to the counties."