Anne Carlsen Center Cuts In-Home Services, Closes Two North Dakota Clinics

Cally Wiest, a Fargo mother whose 13-year-old son Landon has received in-home support and respite from the Anne Carlsen Center since he was a few months old, got a discharge notice in mid-March giving her family roughly one month to find replacement care. "It's one of those things where you don't know when all of a sudden you might not be OK," she said, adding that her bigger worry is for families newer to disability care who may not know where to start.

The Jamestown-based nonprofit, founded in 1941 as the Crippled Children's School and now one of North Dakota's largest disability services organizations, announced it is discontinuing three services statewide: In-Home Supports, Respite, and Independent Habilitation. It is also closing its clinical therapy sites in Minot and Valley City. The end date for all of those services is April 17.

CEO Stephanie Nelson, who took the role last July, cited financial and staffing pressures. "Rising operating costs, flat funding streams, and persistent workforce challenges made this path necessary," she said, calling it "probably one of the most difficult decisions that our leadership team has had to make." About 50 people statewide are directly affected by the in-home cuts, out of 2,500 to 3,000 individuals Anne Carlsen serves annually.

Eric Wiest said the caregivers who worked with Landon, whose bathing requires two people, were "professionals at it for decades, and did a wonderful job for 13 years." The organization says it will work one-on-one with each affected person to aid the transition, and Nelson said the cuts will allow Anne Carlsen to strengthen its core locations, including the Ballantyne Berg Campus in Jamestown, which opened in June 2024, and continuing sites in Fargo, Bismarck, Grand Forks, Devils Lake, Bottineau, and Moorhead.

Families who lose services and cannot immediately find a replacement provider should call Stutsman County's Buffalo Bridges Human Service Zone at 701-952-6850 at 116 First Street E in Jamestown and ask about eligibility for North Dakota's IID/DD Home and Community-Based Services Waiver, which funds in-home supports and respite through alternative licensed providers. If no licensed provider is currently available in a given area, county human services staff can help families document unmet need and navigate the state's provider enrollment process. North Dakota's Developmental Disabilities division, part of the state Department of Health and Human Services, maintains an updated list of approved waiver providers across the state.