The Bartholomew County Youth Services Center expects to reduce operating costs this year due to a higher reimbursement rate it will receive from the state for emergency shelter care.
The center, located at 2350 Illinois Ave., holds children in detention, offers emergency shelter care, day treatment and also monitors youth through house arrest and electronic monitoring.
Anita Biehle, director of youth services, said the center will be reimbursed by the Indiana Department of Child Services $427.07 a day per child this year for emergency shelter care, an increase from the $239.09 rate last year.
That figure, which changes every year, is based on a state formula the department uses based on an annual report submitted by the center, she said. The center also gets reimbursed $87.48 a day from the state Department of Child Services per child for its day treatment and evening reporting programs.
The youth services center’s annual budget of about $1.5 million comes from the county’s general fund, in addition to grants and reimbursements.
Biehle said she was not sure how much the county will save this year since the Youth Services Center’s latest year-end report for 2016 has not been completed. The report will be finished in March, she said.
