Ramsey County Youth Healing and Treatment Home
Soon, young people may be referred by juvenile courts to a new healing and treatment program. Led by Ramsey County and licensed by the Department of Human Services, a home-like facility will provide eligible youths with culturally specific and community-based services. These include alternatives to juvenile detention such as intentional healing and treatment, educational and mentorship programs, family support and engagement, and help while transitioning back to home and community.
Goals
This program seeks to:
- Increase placement options for youths in our juvenile justice system beyond detention.
- Reduce repeat offenses by youths.
- Provide a community-based placement option that is accessible to a youth’s family and trusted community.
- Build a replicable model for youths and their families to receive holistic support and services.
Guiding values
Our actions and decisions to achieve those goals are guided by:
- A vision for a positive future rather than a disciplinary focus on the past.
- Individualized care rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
- Accessibility to family and trusted community rather than placements outside the metro area.
Background
Ramsey County’s 2024-2025 strategic plan focuses on well-being, prosperity, opportunity and accountability. One key priority is transforming the justice system to center on community well-being. This initiative emerged because the community, county and state recognize that current placement options don’t fully meet the needs of youths and their families. Local data shows increasing racial disparities in the public safety system, especially for Black and American Indian youths and adults. In 2023, these groups continued to face higher rates of arrests, detention, out-of-home placements and probation compared to their population size.
Ramsey County has collaborated with community partners to reduce these disparities through programs like the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative and Youth Justice Transformation, and by working with community-based group homes. These efforts significantly reduced the number of youths in correctional placements. Continuing this work, the county is partnering with the Minnesota Department of Public Safety to launch a therapeutic treatment and healing home. This pilot program aims to create a replicable model for a home-like, community-based, culturally responsive and accessible out-of-home placement option for youths interacting with the justice system.
Using data, collaboration, shared accountability, community engagement and detention alternatives, Ramsey County remains committed to providing the right services for youths and families in the justice system.
Timeline
Major milestones to the present:
- 2017: Completion of Deep End site assessment.
- 2018: Future of juvenile programming and residential services workshop.
- 2019: Boys Totem Town closure.
- 2019-Current: Expansion and changes to traditional corrections programming.
- 2021: Opening of two community-based treatment homes.
- 2022-2023: Engagement across state, county, and community partners to identify unmet needs of justice system-impacted youths and their families.
- 2023 Spring: State Legislative progress – passage of funding for intensively therapeutic healing and treatment home (HTH) and wrap around services grants to Ramsey County.
- 2023 Fall: State Working Group on Youth Interventions meeting, evaluating out-of-home placement options across Minnesota and developing recommendations, report published February 2024.
- 2024 Winter: State and county coordination on legislation and grant implementation.
- 2024 Spring: Grant authorization and implementation team set up.
- 2024 Summer: Community engagement, planning for healing and treatment home solicitation.
Planned:
- 2024 Fall and Winter: Posting the request for proposals, addressing questions in information sessions and contracting.
- 2025: Partnering with community-based provider and opening healing and treatment home.