Families and Babies

Public Health cares about Healthy Families and Babies.  Several Programs serve this population to give families the support they need.  4005 Home visits were made in 2025.  These visits include support for mothers with new babies (Mothers and Babies and Baby Steps) and first-time mothers.  Public Health also has a program for incarcerated parents with children (Parenting Inside Out) aimed at breaking the cycle of involvement with the criminal justice system.  Bright Futures is a public health program that works with teen pregnancies.  Olmsted County Public Health has started a Doula (midwifery) Pilot Project to improve neonatal health, birthing experience, and follow up.  Supporting families, new mothers, and babies creates a better future for Olmsted County.

Family, Parenting, and Baby Services are funded in part by a combination of Federal and State sources in addition to grants targeted at prenatal innovations and reducing infant mortality.  The Funding sources total about $1.774 million.

 

Homes for Veterans

Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans (MACV) in partnership with Olmsted County Housing proposed to build 12-14 housing units for low-income veterans.  MACV works with Lennar Builders who will also contribute to this venture.

 

Olmsted Launches Mental Health Help for Youth

On Olmsted County’s website, youth 13-18 can access mental health assistance on the  CredibleMind landing page  . The new youth page includes articles, videos, and podcasts on topics that matter most to teens, including stress, relationships, identity, emotional wellness, and building healthy habits. CredibleMind also connects online information with local community resources. This helps youth and parents move easily from learning about a topic to finding community resources when they need personalized support and specialized services.

 

Highway 14/44 Work

We are ready to start working on 44/14 but must wait for final approval from the Canadian Pacific Railroad.  Olmsted County and the Minnesota Department of Transportation are trying to gain preapproval from the railroad so that construction can start and we do not miss the construction season.

 

More on highway 14

Olmsted will begin the process of design and right of way acquisition on the intersection of County Roads 3 and 5 on Highway 14.  The County Road 3 intersection will also require approval of the Canadian Pacific Railroad as the bridge which goes across highway 14 will also have to go across the railroad tracks.

 

Oxbow Park Camping/Improvements

About 35 camping sites with water and electricity will be available for this summer’s camping season.  These camping sites will have access to new bathrooms and showers.  In addition, 8 camping cabins will be available.  After the floods that Oxbow experienced, the campsites were moved to higher ground.

 

Snapshots

4,005   The number of home visits were completed by Family Services in 2025.

346      The number of bridges in Olmsted County.  129 are city or township bridges, 217 are maintained by the county.

540      The number of road miles maintained.