Tax sale a success
The annual Barton County tax sale took place last Tuesday, and County Treasurer Jim Jordan told the County Commission Monday morning the auction was a success.
At the time of the sale, 14 parcels remained. With Commissioner Kenny Schremmer donating auctioneering services, the county sold all 14, Jordan said.
The sale netted $9,372.72.
Thinking outside the traditional therapy box, the 20th Judicial District Juvenile Services hopes to get youth and families on horses, Juvenile Services Director Marissa Woodmansee told Barton County commissioners Monday morning.
That will be the focus of the Juvenile Services’ Fiscal Year 2018 Reinvestment Grant. Juvenile Services has collaborated with Healing Hearts Ranch to apply for grant funding to provide equine-assisted psychotherapy/learning for youth and families in the district.
The County Commission gave Woodmansee the go-ahead to apply for the funding.
“We want to keep our youth in their homes and with their families,” Woodmansee said. Woodmansee said her office is seeking $128,313.
If approved, the funding will provide 48 clinical hours of therapy each week, with the goal of serving 253 youth, Woodmansee said. “We have a pretty lofty goal.”
But, she said, they want to do what they can to bring down a 28 percent recidivism rate. That many youth reentering the justice system “bogs down our system and bogs down law enforcement.”
Equine therapy is a relatively new field, said Healing Hearts Ranch’s Kelly Johnson, who joined Woodmansee for her presentation to the commission Monday. The ranch has been around since 2007.
However, it has proven successful, she said. “It brings down a lot of barriers.”
