County plans to try new program on children

The Crow Wing County Social Services Department plans to respond differently to home situations involving maltreatment of children.

Lynda Erickson, supervisor of child protection, told the Crow Wing County Board Tuesday that social workers plan to try a state alternative response program that could help many families where there have been reports of child abuse or neglect.

"Other counties have been having success," Erickson said of the program.

The state program provides county child protection workers with the flexibility to best meet the needs of children and their families.

In other social service business:

The out-of-home placement budget is estimated $385,000 under budget.

The social service cash balance is about $4.36 million, or $159,000 above last year. Overall, the department has spent 49 percent of its budget and received 52 percent of budgeted revenues after 58.3 percent of the year.