Seven years after opening its own group home so teens in foster care wouldn’t have to be sent outside Portage County, a county agency will transfer management of the home to an outside organization.
The department announced that on Aug. 1 it will transition operation of the residential program on Brady Lake Road to The Village Network, a nonprofit behavioral health organization that serves youth and families.
In 2018, Portage County saw a significant increase in the number of children entering foster care, with fewer foster families willing to take in teenagers. Of 223 youths in the county’s custody, 31 were living in residential treatment facilities. While some needed those intensive treatments, others were placed outside their community simply because there were limited foster home or local group home options available for teenagers. That made it more difficult for youths to visit with their families…