Ebel celebrated 20 years as director in May, but has actually served the county for about 30 years.

 

He was the social services director from 1975 to 1985 before taking the same position in Morrison County. After serving there for eight years, he came back to Sherburne County in 1993 and has been director ever since.

 

Ebel got into social services after being inspired as a child.

 

“Years ago when I was a child, my parents were foster parents. We had over 40 children in foster care when we lived in Hennepin County on a hobby farm,” he says. “I really admired what the social workers did.” 

 

Ebel went to college to be a social worker and started his career as a child protection worker in Anoka County. After a brief time there, he returned to school to get his graduate degree, then found a position in Sherburne County.

 

“When I started back in the 70s we had less than 20 staff and Donald Strei was the director,” says Ebel. “He was here when I took over.  So in the last 46 years there’s been only two directors in this department.”

 

Ebel says he’s seen a lot of changes over the years. When he started, the department served less than 5,000 clients. Today, it’s between 12,000 and 13,000 clients.

 

“So much of that has just been the growth of the county,” he says. “In 1993 we had just over 50,000 people in the county. Now it’s over 90,000. A lot of younger folks have moved into the county and their demand for services is higher.”

 

One of the biggest changes over the years in social services has been the push to keep people in their community, says Ebel.

 

“Whether it be the elderly, keeping them out of nursing homes, or keeping children from out-of-home placements by offering more preventative services to their family to keep them in their own homes,” he says. “It’s a benefit to them and a benefit to the taxpayers because they don’t have to pay the cost of placements.”

 

Ebel says because of the innovative approach, there aren’t as many institutions as there used to be.

 

“Those who used to be housed in institutions are now living in the communities in their own home doing service work in the community,” he says. “That’s nice to see them in the community rather than housed in an institutions as they were several years ago.”

 

Perhaps the biggest change for Ebel and the department took place in 2011 when the county board decided to merge social services and public health to form the HHS department.

 

“I was fortunate to end up being the department head of that merged organization,” he says. “We found that merge to be very beneficial because we were able to serve people better using health resources as well as services under the former social service dept. Staff  collaborate better. It’s more efficient and economical to do it that way.”

 

At the time, Ebel knew very little about the public health aspect.

 

“I didn’t have a background in public health, so I’m still learning,” he says. “We’re fortunate to  have good staff. I rely a lot on my supervisors to give me good advice and direction.”

 

It is those supervisors that make the department so efficient and effective, says Ebel.

 

“We really put a lot of time into hiring good staff. We have a very intensive hiring process and we’re very picky about who we hire here to serve the public,” he says.

 

When Ebel steps down on January 17, lead administrative supervisor Mary Jo Cobb will become interim acting director until County Administrator Steve Taylor makes a decision on a replacement.

 

“This is a good time for me to retire. The department is strong and in good financial shape. The budget was approved for 2014 and we have good supervisors in place,” says Ebel. “I think I have a good conscience when I walk out the door.”

 

Ebel says he’ll spend time travelling more with his wife, who retired two years ago.

 

“It’s been a great time for me here. The board and staff have been wonderful,” he says. “I’ve really been blessed to have this job.”