Anoka County board approves slate of Human Services contracts, extends shelter funding

The Anoka County Board on June 23 approved nine Human Services consent items reported by Commissioner Meisner, including investigator positions, vendor contract extensions, and state grant allocations for shelter services.

Meisner described a contract (SCON26-0001120) between the county Economic Assistance Department and the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office to fund two investigators under a Fraud Prevention Investigative Program. Meisner said the program has been “highly successful” and helps the county recover multi‑million dollars annually. The board approved this item as part of the Human Services consent slate.

The board also authorized amending an existing contract with Summit Food Service to extend the vendor agreement for one year through June 30, 2027, with a 3% increase effective July 1 (the transcript notes a 3% increase). A separate contract with Dr. Katherine Cranbrook was approved to provide psychological evaluations and forensic consultation for adult and juvenile pre‑ and post‑sentence evaluations.

Commissioner Meisner summarized two amendments to a joint powers agreement with the Minnesota Department of Corrections for the work release unit: the first amendment (July 1, 2025–June 30, 2026) increases the contract by $15,000 (not to exceed $315,000); the second amendment returns the term to July 1, 2026–June 30, 2027 with the original $300,000 amount. These items were approved on consent.

The board approved extending the lease for Veolia Technical Solutions to operate the Blaine Household Hazardous Waste Facility for one year (transcript cites an annual total of $67,187.26). Meisner also reported an amendment to contract C0010866 with the Minnesota Department of Human Services to extend shelter funding through June 30, 2027; the transcript records a total of $3,114,744.10 with an increase of $1,054,278.78. Relatedly, the board approved allocating those funds by amending contract C0011526 with Stepping Stone Emergency Housing (transcript shows a maximum of $2,091,151.67).

The slate included authorization to apply for and accept the 2027 children’s mental health screening grant and approval of SCON26-000112 with Missions Inc. to provide withdrawal management/detox services, which county staff said is required by statute. All Human Services consent items were approved by roll call without recorded opposition.

The transcript contains some formatting and numeric inconsistencies; amounts are reported as read into the record and where the transcript formatting was unclear this article notes the numbers as “reported in the meeting” rather than independently verified.