A residential treatment center in Austin has applied to also serve as an emergency shelter for kids in unsafe or difficult situations.

Gerard Academy — a provider of psychological, psychiatric and behavioral needs of children and adolescents — is awaiting approval from the Minnesota Department of Human Services for certification, which would allow them to shelter children ages 6 to their 19th birthday for approximately 24 hours to 90 days.

“We’re licensed for 77 children; we’d use that to fill the beds we have empty,” said clinical director Pat Retterath, who doesn’t anticipate being turned down for certification.

“There seems to be a need in this area,” she said. “We’ve been asked — from about four, five counties around us —if we would be interested in setting up a shelter program. Once we get certified through the state, we will put a notification out to the county.”

On Wednesday, Gerard had seven vacant beds, fewer than usual for the summertime. If they are certified for shelter beds, they would be permitted to fill beds that fit appropriate age and gender vacancies. Retterath said Gerard would be allowed to provide food and “skill streaming,” or emotional, social and behavioral skills training. Children — likely ones from outside Mower County — could attend their New Dominion School during their stay. They would not, however, be allowed to provide psychiatric services or therapies for the shelter occupants.

“I think they will acclimate well to that environment,” Retterath said. “The routine is so structured; the staff are seasoned.”

She points out they are not applying to provide transitional housing, which is usually for older youth; it would be for only those in acute crisis. Examples would include runaways, those in abusive families or children who have been kicked out of the home.

Gerard would not, Retterath emphasized, “take kids immediately under the influence or who have been charged with very violent crimes.”

If approved, Gerard would likely start services immediately.

“We’re just going to market it on a small scale, maybe five to seven counties,” Retterath said. “We’re not going to limit ourselves, but I think it would make more sense to apply to the counties that are more likely to use it.”

Counties would pay for children to be housed at Gerard, and social workers would usually refer children to the shelter. Executive director Brent Henry said if Gerard sees an extreme need for the shelter housing, they would consider using a separate building specifically for a shelter in the future.

Although Gerard would not serve as a homeless shelter, but rather an emergency shelter for youth, many believe there is a need for an adult homeless shelter in the area — the nearest such facility is in Rochester.

“Austin is in dire need of a shelter,” said Maj. Marlys Anderson of the Salvation Army. “We have been looking into it here and there … it has just not been able to get off the ground.”

The Salvation Army provides first month’s rent and free stays at the Austin Motel for the homeless; families are generally preferred, especially in the winter.

“We basically, in winter, don’t turn anyone away,” said Anderson, who has been researching the procedure for establishing transitional housing, a more obtainable goal than starting a homeless shelter. The government prefers the transitional housing, which facilitates the movement of the homeless into permanent housing.

“We would have to do a study to get grant money,” Anderson said. “It’s a huge amount of work and a lot of time-consuming things. It is very hard to get government money for a shelter.”

Anderson said Gerard’s plans sound “excellent.”

“More power to them,” she said. “I hope it all goes well for them.”