By: News Director Larissa Donovan
BEMIDJI– Beltrami County’s out of home placements appear to be on a downward trend, based on the most recent data.
]Health and Human Services directors Becky Secore and Jeff Lind presented to the Beltrami County Board of Commissioners yesterday for an annual update.
In 2017, there were 1,262 out of home placement cases in the county and in 2018, that number dropped to 1,158.
Even though out of home placements appear to be dropping, the root causes of why these children are removed from their homes does not seem to be going away, with Lind citing several examples of methamphetamine use in the home being a main driver of placements.
This past legislative session the Red Lake Initiative funding was passed, which will allow Red Lake to take over the legal and financial services for out of home placements.
Beltrami County also received $3 million in tax relief from the state to support the loss of funding through out of home placements.
