County board actions: funding for engineering of Bottineau LRT, grant for family safety and permanency, grant to aid transition from mental hospital to community, emergency management software upgrade

Hennepin County, Minnesota sent this bulletin at 02/07/2017 04:25 PM CST

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Carolyn Marinan, Communications, 612-348-5969

County board actions

Votes Tuesday funded 40 percent of Bottineau LRT engineering, accepted funding to resolve issues of family safety and permanency, accepted funding to help patients transition from mental health facilities to community settings and approved emergency management software upgrades.

County to fund 40 percent of Bottineau LRT engineering

Voting as the Regional Railroad Authority, the board approved $50.9 million of funding to advance engineering of the METRO Blue Line Extension Light Rail transit Project, commonly known as Bottineau LRT. The Counties Transit Improvement Board is expected to fund the remaining 60 percent required for the engineering phase. Engineering work will position the project to apply for 49 percent of the total $1.5 billion project cost from the Federal Transit Administration later this year. The Bottineau LRT is a proposed 13-mile transit line extending from downtown Minneapolis to Brooklyn Park.

Grant funding accepted for family engagement practice

The board accepted $319,797 of Minnesota Department of Human Services grant funding to continue the Family Group Decision Making Program throughout 2017. The program helps families resolve issues of safety and permanency in the context of preserving child and family well-being. Through meetings facilitated by social workers trained in this model, the program aims to engage family’s informal supports to safely prevent foster care placements, reunite children with their families and help youth in long-term foster care transition to independent living.

Grant funding will help mental health patients transition to community

The board accepted grant funding for the Transitions to Community Initiative, which helps patients transition from mental health hospitals to community settings. Hennepin County will use $651,000 of Minnesota Department of Human Services funding to support county residents experiencing a delay in discharge at the Anoka Regional Treatment Center and the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter, Minnesota.

County to upgrade emergency management software

The board approved $417,923 of upgrades to weather forecasting software used to improve emergency decision-making. Software upgrades will help emergency management staff continue monitoring data collected from real-time environmental sensor stations on severe weather events, including storms, floods, blizzards, heat waves and extreme cold.