While community placement options were expanding, the state institution system continued expanding as well.
A state-run facility opened in Brainerd in 1958, the same year the Cambridge hospital expanded. In addition, 45 of Minnesota's 87 counties created Advisory Councils for those labeled "trainable."
Even though the waiting list for state institution residency continued to grow, a quarter of the families with children with developmental disabilities ultimately rejected placing them in institutions. And, for the first time, parents received a small amount of funding under the new "Aid to the Disabled" program.
The state's institutional care system grew to include a new Brainerd facility and an expanded hospital in Cambridge.