DEPARTMENT: Social Services
FILE TYPE: Regular Information
TITLE
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Update On Aspen House Youth Shelter In Mendota Heights
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PURPOSE/ACTION REQUESTED
Receive an update on the Aspen House youth shelter project.
SUMMARY
By Resolution No. 22-105 (March 8, 2022), the Dakota County Board of Commissioners authorized the purchase and renovation of a property in Mendota Heights to be used as a children's residential facility providing short term housing and supportive services. By Resolution No. 22-110 (March 22, 2022), the Dakota County Board of Commissioners approved Nexus Family Healing, a non-profit with nearly 50 years of experience providing mental health and residential services to children and families, to operate this facility.
This project began in 2019, when Washington and Dakota counties partnered to address the gap in services created when Harbor Shelter closed its Hastings youth shelter. The counties sought to replace this resource for children and families in crisis and enhance the therapeutic programming provided at the facility. The project is nearing completion and the youth shelter, which has been named Aspen House, is scheduled to open later in October 2022.
Aspen House will provide short-term housing for up to 90 days for up to 12 residents, ages 12-18. County mobile response, juvenile justice, child protection, and children's mental health teams will utilize this program when youth temporarily need a safe place to stay away from home while service professionals (social workers, probation officers, therapists) work on reunification or longer-term solutions for the family. The services and programming at Aspen House will include family engagement, maintaining family and cultural connections, family therapy, transition planning, and psychoeducation. Educational services will be provided on-site in partnership with Independent School District 197.
The purchase and remodeling of the Aspen House property has been funded by approximately $2,1...
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