Kids living in abusive homes or who are going through the court system sometimes don’t have anywhere to stay. When that happens, specialized youth shelters care for them, but beds can be full.
There are currently seven youth shelter facilities statewide. They serve kids who have nowhere to go, said Amy Schaer, CEO of Youth Homes Montana.
“There was a young person that disclosed he lived in a house that was abusive and so when he made those disclosures, you need somewhere to go”, Shaer said.
In cases like that, state child protection services will pay for shelter providers to care for those kids. State youth courts also pay to place them in these homes. According to state data, about 250 children stay in a shelter bed each year on average.
When beds are full, that can mean they’re stuck in an emergency room.
“Or sometimes what’s being utilized is the floor of a social worker’s office as a safe place to go. We can do better than that”, Schaer explained.
Schaer said the state has increased what it pays but reimbursements haven’t kept up with costs. In the past three years, Schaer closed three of her youth shelters. Schaer’s team was able to fundraise enough money to build a new facility in Missoula, which is slated to open this fall.
Those eight additional beds will help. But Youth Homes Montana will still be 16 beds shy of the capacity it had three years ago.
