×

Rabiner to sell its property

Rabiner Treatment Center is planning to sell its property, located at 1762 Johnson Ave., after budget cuts forced the closure of the residential programming of the center in January, according to Brad Klug, Rabiner’s chief executive officer.

“We are in the process of selling our property,” Klug said Friday. “I talked to the people we will potentially be selling it to. They have some ideas about continuing the legacy and doing some neat things.”

Rabiner Treatment Center is a nonprofit organization that serves troubled boys. It was founded in 1961 by the Iowa State Police Association. It was known at the time as the Jerry Rabiner Memorial Boys Ranch. The site was donated by Mr. and Mrs. Louis Rabiner, in memory of their son, Jerry, who was killed in an auto accident in 1953.

A consortium with 21 area school districts has allowed students to attend school on Rabiner’s campus, called Rabiner Academy. That agreement has been in place since August 2017.

The academy accepts students in fourth grade up to seniors in high school. Boys are referred there with a wide range of diagnoses, social issues, and/or histories of criminal behaviors.

The consortium differs from the residential programming because students do not stay on campus.

Manson Northwest Webster School District is the fiscal agent for the consortium. Each school involved pays about $20,000 to MNW. That funds the staff and students for the academy.

Schools receive a majority of that money back if no students are sent there.

The hope is that the consortium will continue at Rabiner’s facilities under new ownership, according to John O’Brien, the principal of Rabiner Academy.

“I think it’s a great step forward,” O’Brien said. “It sounds like they have a pretty good business plan put together and they want to include us, and when I say us, we are the Academy of North Central Iowa. That’s the name we will be going by and they want us to be part of it.”

O’Brien said the owners are a group of local investors.

Justin Daggett, MNW superintendent, said the district is open to staying at Rabiner if the new owners are open to it.

Klug said the decision to sell the property is the result of budget issues.

“Essentially it all boils down to the budget,” he said. “Originally when we did not get that Iowa group share contract last year, that was our initial challenge.”

Rabiner was unable to land that key contract from the Iowa Department of Human Services for the 2017-2018 year.

Since that time, Klug has searched for solutions to keep the residential part of the facility open.

In November, Rabiner began accepting kids from Minnesota.

“We started working with kids from Minnesota and that just did not — it was working, but it did not pan out as quick as we needed it to financially,” Klug said. “That’s when we finally came to the decision to suspend the programming.”

He added, “Ever since last May we have been looking at turning over every rock for funding.”

February marked the last time residential kids were on campus. The school, Rabiner Academy, has continued, however.

“It’s a tough time to be in human services,” Klug said. “The budget cuts are getting deeper and deeper. A lot of our colleagues are either getting smaller or closing their doors.”

O’Brien said the model of how kids are served has changed in the 11 years he has worked at the center.

“When I came there, there wasn’t any local kids unless they were assigned by juvenile courts or DHS, there were no local students involved in it because the cottages were full of residential kids from throughout the state,” he said. “Eventually that population started to decline due to a different model that was presented to the state to do more community based services.”

Through the academy in place, students get to go home every night, he said.

“I think this is a better play, a better process,” O’Brien said. “The kids get a chance to go home and practice the skills we teach them during the day. It’s reinforced throughout the day. They still have classes, they still have court classes, elective classes. We have a seven period schedule they go to and we serve from fourth grade to seniors. We have had kids graduate from there over the years.”

O’Brien said six teachers remain on campus. They are responsible for 43 students enrolled in the academy.

“We have a knack for getting to know the kids quickly and building trust,” he said. “We also have great support staff there employed at one time through the treatment facility and are now working for the schools. They know how to operate with students who may not have the best social skills, but we love working with them.”

Still, losing the residential aspect of the facility has been a challenge.

“It has been gone and gone,” O’Brien said. “Some kids just need a place to go and there isn’t a lot of foster parents out there which these facilities were able to work with. Now it looks like they are trying to shut most of them down by eliminating the beds. That’s what has happened here.”

The prospective owners will meet with the consortium board made up of seven area superintendents on Wednesday to discuss the future of Rabiner.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today