Adolescent care center reports stabilization, staffing improvements and move to electronic records

The Williams County adolescent care center provided its 2024 year-end report to the Board of County Commissioners on March 18, describing a year of stabilization, staffing challenges that have since improved and the rollout of an electronic records database.

The center’s presenter (identified in the meeting as Marsha) said attendance and shelter-care usage remained down across the region, partly because of a change in how status offenses are handled. The center reported that staffing shortages in 2024 have been resolved and that three new hires are completing onboarding and training.

The center implemented an electronic database in 2025 to reduce paper records — the presenter said the aim is to be roughly 95% paper-free by year end — and resumed training programs for staff including mental-health first aid and kitchen safety recertification because the center conducts food preparation on-site.

Why it matters: the adolescent care center provides shelter care for juveniles across regional agencies; staffing and record-keeping changes affect capacity and how the county bills or coordinates with other jurisdictions.

Follow-up: center staff will continue quarterly coordination with other regional facilities and report statutory or funding changes that might affect billing for 'chins/chips' (status-offense) placements.