Local human services workers and local residents voiced their concerns Wednesday at an informational meeting about a possible massive overhaul of county human services. The question: Should Mower join a 12-county consortium or stand alone?

Service workers agreed something needed to be done to alleviate their high case loads, but most were doubtful of the redesign. They worried the remodel would fail to meet people’s needs, and relayed stories of similar efforts that had failed in other states.

“There are some really big pieces that needs some answers,” one citizen said.

Mower and 11 other nearby counties will soon have to decide whether to join together in a human services redesign meant to combine services across county borders and cut operating budgets. After a March meeting, Mower County Human Services Director Julie Stevermer said the county could save up to $1 million in future expenditures if it joined forces. Olmsted County — the region’s largest county — could reduce five-year costs by as much as $21 million, according to a report prepared by the management consulting firm Accenture. While smaller counties like Fillmore would only save about $150,000, many of the details depend on which counties decide to be a part of the redesign.

Talk of the redesign comes in response to a push from the state for counties to meet certain standards on human services and a growing need for costly human services that stems in part from the aging baby boomer population.

“It doesn’t appear we can continue to try to satisfy our taxpayers needs and our services needs,” said County Coordinator Craig Oscarson. He added it wasn’t a problem that hiring a few extra staff could solve. Combining services with nearby counties was one possible way to get mandatory human service costs back under control.

According to Accenture, the program would take between three and five years to fully integrate.

Although there were rumors about outsourcing work, Stevermer said there had been no talk in any of the planning meetings about replacing workers from the 12 counties with outside employees.

“Human services is a higher part of the budget every year,” said County Commissioner Jerry Reinartz. “We wouldn’t be going ahead with our remodel of the second floor if we thought we were going to lose it.”

The county is undergoing a $6-million Health and Human Services and Law Enforcement Center remodel, which will move Human Services from Oak Park Mall to the Government Center downtown.

The board hopes to gain public perspective before it needs to take the next step. Board members encouraged the public to contact them to voice their opinions. Fewer than 15 citizens attended Wednesday night’s open meeting, which Oscarson said he found concerning. These changes affect everyone in some way, he said.

In June, the board will vote on whether to keep its hat in the ring for now and move on to planning stages. The board will still be able to withdraw after that point, but the counties need a collective idea how many of them would be interested to gauge whether the program would be worthwhile. A later vote would commit Mower to the group.

No county would be able to leave the group, once formed, for the first five years. Oscarson said this was to prevent counties from getting “cold feet” and leaving before changes could take hold.

If several of the counties opt-out, its still possible a number could combine their services into a smaller collective.

There’s no way to figure out the details, Stevermer said, “until we know who’s moving forward and who’s not.”