 | This is not a Wikipedia article: It is an individual user's work-in-progress page, and may be incomplete and/or unreliable. For guidance on developing this draft, see Help:Userspace draft § Creation. Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL |
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2018) |
| Department overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | January 1, 2025 |
| Headquarters | Vadnais Heights |
| Employees | ~5,400 |
| Website | www |
Direct Care and Treatment (DCT) is a Minnesota state agency that provides behavioral health care services to individuals with serious mental illness conditions, substance use disorders, and certain developmental/intellectual disabilities. It was established as its own agency on January 1, 2025 after separating from the Department of Human Services. The agency has about 150 sites across Minnesota and serves 12,000+ individuals each year.[1] Almost all of these individual are civilly committed and classified by the court as mentally ill, mentally ill and dangerous, chemically dependent, developmentally disabled, a sexually dangerous persons, and/or having a sexual psychopathic personality.
History
editAfter becoming a state, Minnesota contracted its psychiatric care to Iowa from 1858 to 1866. In 1866, Minnesota opened its first temporary state hospital in St. Peter, soon followed by construction of a large 800-acre facility. In 1872, the St. Peter facility had 1,050 patients. The original Kirkbride facility is today the St. Peter Regional Treatment Center Museum.
Between 1879 and 1958, Minnesota built 10 additional state hospitals across the state. The facilities were self-contained communities with farming operations that could provide work and food for patients and staff into the 1960s. Most patients spent much of their lives in these hospitals.
Beginning in the 1940s, national reforms moved Minnesota toward deinstitutionalization.
Minnesota's state hospitals were first managed by the Department of Public Welfare, which also oversaw Minnesota's prisons until 1959, when the Legislature created the Department of Corrections. In 1983, the Department of Public Welfare was renamed the Department of Human Services (DHS). Direct Care and Treatment, which took over management of the state hospitals, was established as a subsidiary of DHS.
By 2023, DHS had become too large to manage. It serving more than 1.5 million Minnesotans with over 7,000 employees and a $20 billion budget. Governor Tim Walz signed a law to make Direct Care and Treatment a standalone agency.
Leadership
editDCT is governed by a nine-member executive board. It is the only state agency that doesn't have a single appointed commissioner leading it. The board has seven voting members (six appointed by the governor with Senate confirmation, plus the Commissioner of Human Services or designee) and two nonvoting members appointed by the Association of Minnesota Counties and labor unions. The board must include a member from outside the metro area.
Service lines
editMental health and substance abuse
editAnoka Metro Regional Treatment Center is Minnesota's largest psychiatric hospital with 96 beds. It treats adults with the state's most serious mental illnesses and behavior problems. Usually, patients face criminal proceedings. Some are admitted from jails and other correctional facilities in the state. Average length of stay is approximately 100 days.
There is also the Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health Hospital in Willmar with 16 beds.
The Community Addiction Recovery Enterprise (CARE) Program has three locked facilities in Anoka, Carlton, and Fergus Falls. These locations provide treatment for adults with chemical dependency. Most have co-occurring mental disorders. Treatment programs last up to 90 days.
Forensic
editThe Forensic Mental Health Program at St. Peter (formerly Minnesota Security Hospital) provides secure and non-secure inpatient treatment for individuals civilly committed as mentally ill and dangerous. Many patients have been charged with serious crimes but, unlike those in the Anoka Treatment Center, are found not competent to stand trial or not guilty by reason of mental illness or cognitive impairment.
Community-based
editDCT manages about 100 group homes.
Minnesota Sex Offender Program
editThe Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP) operates two secure facilities for civilly committed clients at Moose Lake and St. Peter.[2] MSOP has 758 clients as of 2025.[3] The program has had constitutional challenges and criticism as ineffective. In 2015, Federal Judge Donovan Frank ruled the program unconstitutional.[4] The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision in 2017 and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear its appeal.[5][6]
References
edit- ↑ Direct Care and Treatment (PDF) (Report). Committee on Human Services, Minnesota Senate. 2025-01-27.
- ↑ "Minnesota Sex Offender Program Overview". Direct Care and Treatment (DCT). 2025-02-22. Retrieved 2025-11-09.
- ↑ "Data about clients in the Minnesota Sex Offender Program". Direct Care and Treatment (DCT). 2025-02-22. Retrieved 2025-11-09.
- ↑ Sepic, Matt; Cox, Peter (2015-06-17). "Federal judge: Minnesota sex offender program unconstitutional". MPR News. Retrieved 2025-11-09.
- ↑ Moylan, Martin; Bakst, Brian (2017-01-03). "Federal judges: MN sex offender program constitutional". MPR News. Retrieved 2025-11-09.
- ↑ Bakst, Brian (2017-10-02). "U.S. Supreme Court lets Minnesota sex offender program stand". MPR News. Retrieved 2025-11-09.