Minnesota’s government shutdown may be inching toward completion, but it’s not going to get back to business as usual right away.

Even with the end in sight, this shutdown will have more lasting effects that the 2005 shutdown, according local leaders.

“This one had some impacts that I think will be felt for quite some time,” County Coordinator Craig Oscarson said.

This shutdown reached the private sector, halting licenses to some businesses and shutting down state parks and stalled new fishing licenses, which may have had a trickle effect on resorts and other businesses over the Fourth of July.

“It could take quite some time for these businesses to recover,” Oscarson said.

Sen. Dan Sparks, DFL-Austin, said the shutdown made people realize how much the government affects everyday life in Minnesota.

“It was very widespread. As the shutdown went on, it started to affect more and more people and more and more businesses,” Sparks said. “It started to show people how widespread and how many things the government takes part in.”

Sparks said there has been talk of drafting legislation to prevent a future shutdown, although nothing is official yet.

Public Health and Human Services

A few families were unable to move a loved one into a nursing home, because it stopped required pre-screenings in Human Services, according to Oscarson.

“It may have been only a couple, but when you’re that person, it’s a big thing,” he said.

Other families struggled because funds for childcare services were suspended, though a judge later reinstated them.

“Our community suffered in many ways,” Oscarson said.

In Human Services and Public Health, the shutdown led the county board to a vote to put about 40 employees on involuntary leave. It reduced staff and affected the level of service provided in the offices, according the Human Services Director Julie Stevermer.

“It impacted a fair amount of clients, because we didn’t have the staff in house to provide the services for the last couple of weeks,” she said.

Though most employees have been called back, many have depleted much of their paid time off when off work.

The shutdown touched many lives before it even started, when notices went out to Human Services clients about potential effects.

“It put a lot of people in a little bit of a panic, because they didn’t know what they were going to do if they didn’t get that,” Stevermer said.

More to come?

Even though the shutdown is over, Stevermer said the effects of the latest shutdown and budget may not heal. Largely because Health and Human Services could face hefty reductions.

“There are going to be deep cuts to human services in this next biennium,” she said.

Funds for Semi Independent Living Services still haven’t been reinstated at the state and may not ever be, according to Stevermer. This affects a dozen local residents. About 75 percent is state funded and 25 is of county.

“We’re hoping that it gets reinstated, but we have no guarantees,” Stevermer said.

“Just because the shutdown is over, doesn’t mean the money will flow,” she added.

Many Human Services care providers were also effected.

Parenting Resource Center

The Parenting Resource Center had 12 workers affected by the shutdown, with one worker unable to work until the shutdown ended and 11 workers with cut hours. The Parent Warm Line, Linea De Apoyo and the Crisis Nursery are among state-funded services that didn’t happen during a shutdown.

Child care assistance was restored last Thursday, a welcome relief to parents, employers and area child care providers from the YMCA to Austin Public School’s Early Childhood and Family Education programming. Families on child care assistance had to bear the costs during the shutdown, and if they didn’t continue the program’s co-pay, they would be dropped. There’s a two-year waiting list to get on child care assistance, according to Maryanne Law, the executive director of the PRC.

“You don’t want to not be in the system when it starts again,” she said last month. “Then you can’t just be picked up again, you’d go to the end of the waiting list.”

In addition, PRC officials were ready to lay off another four employees due to the shutdown’s effects last Friday, yet Thursday’s ruling meant the PRC would still have the funds to pay them.

Just in time?

Still, the end may be just in time for Cedar Valley Services.

IT has used reserves to survive the state shutdown with minimal effects on day-to-day operations, according to Program Director Maureen Lynch.

However, Lynch said a prolonged shutdown could have caused more serious problems.

“We’re in a good position to weather this,” she said.”We’re not in a good position to weather this long term.”