06/17/2026
“There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.” – Archbishop Desmond Tutu
At yesterday morning’s Scott County Board meeting (June 16), the information was flowing quickly and freely from people with expertise in truancy diversion programs, community mental health programming, and the County’s own Annual Performance Report (2025). The one thing all of these topics had in common? Prevention works. When community partners come together to find solutions to stubborn, pervasive problems (such as educational neglect, the increasing need for youth mental health services, et cetera) from the perspective of finding efforts that prevent these problems from getting more stubborn and pervasive (thus requiring “deep-end” services, which are often less effective), outcomes – for individuals, families, schools, communities – are much more positive. In addition, while not always a “magic bullet,” data demonstrate that prevention efforts, especially those that also include early intervention, are more cost-effective as well. To see more detail about these agenda items, visit https://www.scottcountymn.gov/1971/County-Board-Agendas-Minutes -e0a5fab11fae7f220c20a1fc081fa02b -- “Promoting Attendance & Student Success (PASS) and Promoting Attendance Through Hope (PATH)” (pages 52 to 74); “Scott County Mental Health Local Advisory Council Priorities” (pages 75 to 77); and the Scott County Annual Performance Report (pages 78 to 268 – yep, that’s a long one! You may want to start with the executive overview, which can be found at https://www.scottcountymn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/26564/APR-2025-Presentation). If you’d prefer to watch the presentations and their Q and A conversations, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n78Yt56IK1Y.
