Board told incentive grant possible
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
If money is offered,
match must be found
By Bobbi Mlynar
mlynar@emporiagazette.com
A cash match for incentive funds from the Kansas Juvenile Justice Authority could bring in $18,120 in additional money for the Fifth Judicial District’s Community Corrections department.
The JJA has asked for $1 million to split among Kansas’ 31 judicial districts, according to information from Community Corrections Director Robert Sullivan.
Sullivan announced the potential availability of the grant during a meeting of the Community Corrections board.
He told board members that the cash match required must come from local tax rolls — county, city, or school district — and the money must be used for prevention, intervention, or court purposes. The board will decide how to use the money.
“The burden would be on the agency that’s applying for the funds to find a match,” Sullivan said.
He mentioned that the board also could choose to use the funds for its own programs, which might include funding for a case manager, prevention, intake, or assessment projects.
The money may be available in January 2009, and can be used only through June 30, 2009.
Much will be dependent upon the comprehensive plan that is expected to be finished in October.
Board President Wes Jones said that all entities that wanted to apply for the grant would need to know that the funding would end in six months, with no guarantee that the incentive funds would be continued.
Sullivan said that the Senate Bill 14 Risk Reduction Initiative also had begun in a similar fashion.
SB 14 was intended to reduce probation revocation rates by at least 20 percent, in addition to targeting high-risk and need probationers. The goals are to increase public safety, reduce the risk level of probationers on community corrections supervision, and increase the percentage of people who successfully complete community corrections probation supervision.
“We still were able to do great, great things in that short time,” he said.
Entities that apply for incentive funding also would need to show they could produce the matching funds from tax rolls.
“Matching funds have to be arranged for before making application for incentive funding,” Sullivan said. “This is all new.”
The board discussed the possibility of contracting with an outside entity that would already have the staff and capabilities of starting immediately.
Board member Vicki Vaughn moved to table action on the award process for incentive funds until a JJA program official has visited Emporia and completed his study of the department. The official is expected to be here and meet with the board on July 28.
Sullivan will notify the JJA that the Fifth Judicial District intends to apply for the incentive funds.
Sullivan announced that computer equipment and signage are among the few items remaining to be finished on the new Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center. The center will be housed on the first floor on the south side of the former Lyon County Courthouse, 402 Commercial St. Currently, juveniles are brought to the community corrections department in the basement of the new courthouse or taken to the sheriff’s office or police department to be watched until they can be picked up by parents, child-welfare agencies, or detention centers. The youngsters sometimes spend several hours waiting with law enforcement officers or community corrections workers.
The I&A office will have one full-time and three part-time employees, and will be staffed Mondays through Fridays, with workers available by pager during evenings and weekends.
“We hope to be up and running before the month’s over,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan told the board that a liability account that formerly had a balance of $400 had ballooned to $2,890. The county prefers that funds in those accounts be used.
He then asked permission to buy items needed for community corrections, such as training, cell phones and possibly a bullet-proof vest for its officer who oversees high-risk adult offenders.
“I don’t like to see people put at risk without protection,” Vaughn said. “I would like to see us buy that vest.”
Emporia Police Chief Gary Smith said that Community Corrections could order the vest, estimated to cost between $800 and $1,200, as part of EPD’s pending vest order, to save on costs.
Sullivan will look into the costs of the items needed and provide a breakdown to the board before making purchases.
Community Corrections will receive a grant of $393,384 from the state this year. The total was 98 percent of the department’s requested grant and almost $8,500 more than it received the previous year.
“So, it was an increase for the first time in three years,” Sullivan said.