The Family Keys program is keeping kids with their families - and there is data to show it

But the bigger story is that it is saving the county money while stabilizing family housing situations

Back in 2022, a newly elected county board was looking to make some cuts to the annual budget.

A program called Start Right, part of a statewide program that county leaders operated in Marathon County aimed at intervening with at-risk families, aiming to keep children in their homes, found itself in the cross-hairs.

Why was Start Right a target? It didn’t help that there was a lack of data on local outcomes. If you need to defend a program, local data about whether it was actually working is a big help. Advocates for the program would cite statewide data on the program but couldn’t offer anything local.

Those running the Family Keys program weren’t about to make that mistake. It’s a pilot program funded by the state in only three counties - Marathon, Wood and La Crosse - meant to keep children at risk from being taken from their homes.

Keeping children in their homes is not only better for the family, but it saves the county money. Child out-of-home placements are very expensive for the county (which is mandated to facilitate), so keeping a child with their birth parents is a win-win for everyone involved.

Social Services Director Christa Jensen has not only been overseeing the program, but she isn’t repeating a mistake of the Nurse Family Partnership — she’s collecting and sharing meticulous data with board members.

But one of the quiet successes of the program — besides saving the county money while keeping families intact — is it’s housing families who previously were struggling with housing.