(Cherokee)– A juvenile detention and rehabilitation center that serves northwest Iowa is seeing a huge increase in demand for services. The Youth Emergency Services (YES) Center is located in Cherokee. Supervisor Steve Clark represents Dickinson county on the agency’s Board of Directors. In an update earlier this week, Clark told fellow supervisors the center is operating at capacity and is looking into possibly expanding…
“They’re licensed for 15 clients and their average, they had 14 the day that we met on the 18th. Their average is 13 and-a-half per day which is the highest it’s ever been. You know you have to allow them a little bit of time to clean out. They said they have people sitting out in the hall while they’re disinfecting and sanitizing a room to take a new client as soon as one moves out. They’re trying to get approval from the court system and from Cherokee Mental Health to add another 10 beds. They need them really bad, but it’s all got to, it’s a process. You don’t just go to a room and open it up. Everything’s got to go through a process of being accepted and financed and then it all has to be secure.”
Clark adds the YES Center does appear to be performing well financially.
