Health and Human Services' builds reserves back to normal

The financial condition of Southwest Health and Human Services continues to improve, six years after the agency had no money in the budget reserve.
Director Beth Wilms told Rock County commissioners at their April 4 meeting that reserves at the end of 2022 totaled $10.5 million.
“As all of you recall, I came on board in July 2017 and we were not financially healthy,” she said. “There were concerns from our counties and our community partners about stability and our viability.”
SWHHS now has four months of financial reserves. State auditors recommend five to six months.
“We are at a good place,” said Lisa DeBoer, SWHHS director of business management. “We are so close.”
In 2017 SWHHS had no money in budget reserves and faced a possible budget shortfall of $2 million the following year.
Wilms implemented several budget-tightening measures, including a hiring freeze in 2018.
“We’ve found public health positions are hard to fill and we have had turnover in child protection services,” DeBoer said. “Currently to date, we have nine open positions and have been holding there for the past couple of months.
SWHHS employs 232 currently.
In 2017 at its peak, 247 people worked for the six-county agency.
Essential and non-essential services are scrutinized to stay within budget.
Non-essential grant programs are closely reviewed for staff sustainability, especially after the grant sunsets. Wilms said since 2017, grant programs have been kept at a minimum, helping the agency’s bottom line.
“As an organization, we are pretty bare,” she said. “At the end of the day, we are not doing too many things that are non-essential.”
She said the focus is on one goal: “What we want is self-sufficient, strong families.”
The agency’s budget for 2023 is $34 million to provide the social services in Rock, Pipestone, Lyon, Murray, Lincoln and Redwood counties.
Rock County will pay $1.794 million this year for human services, public health and mental health.
 
Mental health services stay the same for now
Wilms said her agency continues to develop a network of third-party counseling services for eligible Rock County residents.
Previously, Rock County contracted mental health services only through the Southwestern Mental Health Center (SWMHS) in Luverne.
The 30-year exclusive SWMHS contract was terminated last year after SWMHS had asked for nearly $1 million to provide counseling services to local income-eligible residents.
Pipestone County followed suit in dropping the exclusive counseling services with SWMHS.
Previously both counties paid a combined $400,000 for mental health services through Southwestern Mental Health.
Wilms said as the third-party network is developed, many counseling services continue with Southwestern Mental Health in order to gather more data.
The one-year contract agreement between SWHHS and SWMHS is at or below the $400,000 Pipestone and Rock counties paid jointly in 2021.
The contract stipulates that Southwestern Mental Health report on the number of the clients served in each county, the service provided and billing information.